The Voice Online - Botswana

By Calistus Bosaletswe
An argument erupted in court when the magistrate hit back at the defence and prosecution for releasing submissions to the media before they were read before the court.
The Extension II Principal Magistrate, Dlamini Ngandu noted that releasing submissions of a case in which a 68-year-old Briton, Philip James Tempest is accused of fondling a 13-year-old’s breasts and forcing her to rub his manhood until he ejaculated was unethical. Tempest is charged together with a 21 year old female Lorraine Makati who is accused of aiding the young girl to perform the act. The magistrate who was fuming warned that whoever gave the Daily News the submissions of the case for publishing acted in bad faith on the outcome of the case.
“Whoever did so gave the public an opportunity to judge the outcome of the case before the court could take its decision,” said Ngandu.  She warned that such misconduct should not be tolerated in the courts of law. The magistrate warned them after the submissions were presented before the court where the defence lawyer argued that the accusations of indecent assault against his client did not hold water.
The defence lawyer, Boingotlo Toteng argued that the evidence led before the court was unsatisfactory. He told the court that the complainant was pressurised to give evidence which made the whole prosecution evidence contradictory like in the instance where the complainant told the court that she stayed for over thirty minutes while other prosecution witnesses confirmed in court that she stayed for less than a minute in the accused’s bedroom.
However, the Directorate of Public Prosecution, Ezabel Mathiba differed with the defence and pointed out that some evidence brought before the court had led to a prima-facie case against the accused person.
Mathiba said there were no contradicting elements in the case. She said the complainant told the court that the old man kissed her but she was uncomfortable. She also confirmed that she was made to fondle the accused’s manhood by Makati. She said such aiding shows that the fondling and caressing took place. She said the evidence that was brought before the court was not inconsistent as the defence lawyer claimed.
Magistrate Ngandu has set the ruling for November 30.