The defence lawyer in the kidnapping case of former secretary at Debswana, Mmabatho Sekgoma, has pleaded with the Regional Magistrate (South) Lot Moroka to spare his client a custodial sentence.

Yesterday, attorney Duma Boko said in court that a non-custodial sentence did not mean that the convict (Sekgoma) would have gone unpunished. Boko was mitigating on behalf of Sekgoma who was found guilty of abducting a 7-year old boy four years ago.

Boko told the court that Sekgoma and the complainant's father had had a long relationship, hence she acted in desperation when things did not go her way. The court heard that on the day the boy was abducted, Sekgoma had gone to serve the father of the complainant with a court order demanding maintenance from him.

However, a misunderstanding ensued between the two. Boko said all that Sekgoma wanted on the day of the incident was the formalisation of maintenance proceedings of their love child.

"Shakespeare once said, 'Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned'", Boko said. He said Sekgoma had informed him that the father of the child had not been helping with the maintenance of the child, making Sekgoma the sole provider.

He submitted that according to the charge against Sekgoma, it was never established during trial that Sekgoma kidnapped the complainant for purposes of ransom, for sexual gratification or to kill.

Boko added that Sekgoma had acted out of blind fury and frustration when the father of the complainant scorned her. He urged Moroka to show mercy by not imposing a custodial sentence as the love child of Sekgoma and the complainant's father was solely dependant on Sekgoma.

Boko said if Sekgoma were given a custodial sentence, the misery of living without parents would be extended to her now nine year old Standard Four child. "The sentence should not compound already existing problems of her child," Bolo said. "The law provides that a child should interact with both its biological parents."

He submitted that Sekgoma had lost her job, which on its own was a punishment for the alleged crime. "She has already served the punishment, even though it is on the unofficial side, when she lost her job," he added.

One the other hand, Wesson Manchwe for the state, dismissed some of Boko's submissions. Manchwe told the court that there were many children whose parents were sent to jail before. Being a single parent did not amount to exceptional extenuating circumstances, hence there was nothing exceptional in Sekgoma being the sole provider for her child.

Manchwe further submitted that Sekgoma stood convicted of a hideous crime that carries a maximum sentence of seven years in prison without the option of a fine.

"She failed to show remorse," Manchwe said. The court also heard that Sekgoma had four previous convictions from the 1980s.

Using the names Kereng Sekgoma, she was first convicted in 1981 by the Urban Customary Court of stealing and was ordered to pay P6.

In 1982, while using the names Patricia Sekgoma, she was convicted by the same court of stealing by servant and was ordered to pay P25 or be imprisoned for two years. In 1983, Sekgoma was convicted, again by the Urban Customary Court, of common assault and ordered to pay P10 or be imprisoned for one month. The last of her previous convictions, this time before the Gaborone West Customary Court, was for fraying in 1987 when she used the names Patricia Kereng Sekgoma.

Defence lawyer Boko urged the court to treat Sekgoma as a first offender, considering the number of years between her last conviction and the current one. "It has been 22 years since she last committed an offence, hence I will urge the court to treat her as the first offender," Boko said.

Sekgoma will know her fate this afternoon after both parties found it was imperative that the court be given ample time to arrive at a proper sentence.