Uganda v Lakot Levecy (Criminal Session Case No. 370 of 1995)

Observed later treatment

No later-treatment classification is recorded for this judgment.

Citator coverage is limited to judgments in the Wakilii corpus and source-matched treatment records. Absence of a signal is not an assertion that the case remains good law.

Holding

On a plea of guilty to manslaughter following provocation by the deceased, the court sentenced the accused to three years imprisonment, taking into account that she was a first offender who had spent one year and nine months in custody awaiting trial, and that while the deceased provoked the accused, the accused's response of stabbing her six times was excessive.

Outcome

Accused convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to three years imprisonment

Facts

The accused and the deceased were co-wives sharing a husband. On 20 December 1994, after returning from a Christmas party, their husband decided to have supper at the accused's house. The deceased came to the accused's house and quarrelled with her over this. The accused came out with a knife and stabbed the deceased six times all over her body. The deceased died that night from lung damage and haemothorax caused by the stabbings. The accused was arrested and later made an extra-judicial statement before a magistrate admitting she caused the death. She was indicted for murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter, which plea was accepted by the prosecution.

Issues

1. What is the appropriate sentence for manslaughter where the accused was provoked but responded with excessive force?

Orders

• Accused convicted of manslaughter.
• Accused sentenced to three years imprisonment.
• Period of one year and nine months spent in custody prior to trial taken into account.

Rules and key headnotes

Legislation cited (2)

• Penal Code Act s.183
• Penal Code Act s.182

The original judgment as reported. Read the original PDF before relying on any passage.