Synopsis:
Application for leave to appeal against a sentence of life imprisonment. The applicant claimed that the High Court had failed to consider that he was a child at the time of the offence. The majority held that the applicant had not shown that he was under 18 when the offence was committed, and so could not establish that his rights under section 28 of the Constitution were engaged. Since the application was made ten years after the sentencing, the interests of justice in granting applications for condonation and leave to appeal were weakened. Condonation and leave to appeal were refused. A minority found that, on the wording of the High Court judgment, the applicant was a child at the time of the offence, and the High Court had misdirected itself in failing to take this into account.
Majority: Skweyiya J (Mogoeng CJ, Moseneke DCJ, Cameron J, Froneman J, Jafta J, Zondo J and Yacoob J concurring).
