A 21-year-old security guard from Kadoma has avoided jail time following an accidental discharge of a firearm, which resulted in the death of a miner at Sengy Mine.
The state was insisting on a murder charge, but the High Court found Anthony Mutefara guilty of culpable homicide before sentencing him to three years in jail.
Twelve months of his sentence were set aside for two on condition that he does not commit a similar offence.
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The remaining 24 months were suspended on condition that Mutefara performs 820 hours of community service at Mkoba Clinic.
The unfortunate incident took place last year when he was 20.
It is a proven fact that Mutefara, a recently trained security guard, was only two days at the new job when he was deployed at Sengy Mine Post in Kadoma.
He was to relieve a colleague who was going off duty.
The deceased, in the company of his two co-miners, was whiling away time sitting by the security guard cabin post.
According to the unchallenged testimony of the accused, he had just assumed duty and was inside the cabin when the deceased unnoticeably also entered the mini room.
The deceased had entered the cabin to collect his already charged phone and to charge another as per their custom.
An inverter had been placed inside the cabin, but behind the door, for the purpose of assisting the miners coming from the underground mining shafts to recharge their mobile phones.
The inverter was positioned approximately a meter adjacent to the bed, which was also situated therein.
"It is soon after the deceased's entrance into the said room that a startling sound was heard, leading the deceased's colleagues to scamper away for safety.
"It was only after the first witness, Peter Milton, regained composure and retraced his way back to the source of the explosive sound did he find the deceased lying face up with his head protruding from the door hanging unsuspended.
"According to this witness's testimony upon entry into the cabin to enquire, he then saw the accused astonished and in shock, holding the gun.
"Both the first witness and the accused placed the deceased in a better lying position outside the cabin," reads court papers.
Mutefara, who was visibly shaken, was seen using his own garment to try and stabilise excessive bleeding.
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In his defence, Mutefara stated that he took safety precautionary measures as soon as he was handed the gun.
He placed the gun in a safety catch or mode.
Since he had just learnt that there was a bullet jammed in the barrel, he emptied the gun.
The first bullet fell under the bed but the second remained lodged.
In his effort to retrieve the fallen bullet, he placed the gun on the bed whilst bending.
He hardly noticed the entrance or presence of the deceased until he heard a loud bang.
At first, he thought it came from outside, as was the norm with explosives at the mine. He then realised that the gun had discharged on its own accord when he saw the smoke on the mouth of the barrel, signalling recent gunfire.
At the same time, he observed the deceased, who was in a bent position, falling backwards.
In convicting him, the judge said the manner in which the events unfolded portrays mere carelessness rather than recklessness.
"The accused's action of taking safety precautionary measures in a confined space borders on negligence rather than out of realisation of risk or possibility that death may ensue out of his conduct of leaving an unsupervised semi-loaded gun for a short stint of time," noted the judge before convicting Mutefara.
