A former Johannesburg Metropolitan Police Department (JMPD) officer who killed her son and attempted to murder her daughter has on Wednesday been sentenced to 30 years by the High Court in Johannesburg.
The 42-year-old was arrested in 2018 in Greenvillage in Dobsonville, Soweto, after she fed poisoned food to her children and later shot them with a service pistol.
The eight-year-old son died while the 14-year-old daughter survived.
The former JMPD officer was sentenced to 20 years for murder and 10 years for attempted murder. However, she would only serve 20 years behind bars since the sentences would run concurrently.
Passing sentence, judge Lesiba Mhamgo said the officer committed serious offenses.
He said he deviated from the prescribed minimum sentence due to some exceptional and compelling circumstances forwarded by the defence team.
It was heard in court that she took dagga and crystal meth before she committed the offenses.
Mhango told the officer it was unbecoming of her to use drugs, while she was expected to arrest criminals who sold drugs to the public.
The 14-year-old daughter broke down as the mother walked down to the court cells.
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