Student’s sentence halved for forged Covid test
The Windhoek High Court has handed a partial victory to a medical student jailed for two years for forging Covid-19 test results by effectively slashing his sentence by half.
Mussa Phiri (28), a seventh-year medical student, was arrested in August 2021 by immigration officials at the Ngoma border after they discovered his test results had been forged.
He was charged with one count of forgery and another of uttering, and pleaded guilty to both.
Katima Mulilo magistrate Clara Mwilima sentenced Phiri to 12 months on each count, without an option for a fine, to be served back-to-back.
Phiri was arrested alongside 22-year-old Namibian medical student, Martha Namupala, who was charged with a count of uttering and sentenced to one-year imprisonment.
The duo was travelling back to Zambia to continue their medical studies at Cavendish University after a visit to Namibia.
Phiri and Namupala appealed the sentence, stating it was harsh and would jeopardise their future careers as health practitioners. Namupala later withdrew the appeal.
Justified
On Monday, High Court judge Christie Liebenberg effectively reduced Phiri’s sentence by half, ordering that the two sentences be served concurrently, instead of consecutively. Judge Claudia Claasen concurred with his ruling.
“The appellant’s moral blameworthiness is exacerbated by the fact that he was a medical student who forged Covid-19 test results in circumstances where he must have realised the possible detrimental consequences to others,” Liebenberg wrote in the judgment.
The judge said Phiri’s imprisonment and sentences on each count were justified in the circumstances of the case, and emphasised that while Phiri did not benefit financially from the offence of forgery and uttering, “he stood reckless to the lives of others amidst a pandemic” and should have known better as a medical student.
Selfish and irresponsible
During sentencing, magistrate Mwilima said the accused’s conduct was “selfish and irresponsible” and defeated efforts to combat the pandemic.
She said the duo “have themselves to blame for the demise that will befall them”.
Both Phiri and Namupala said the prison sentence left them “deeply distraught” and that they were both genuinely remorseful.
Mussa Phiri (28), a seventh-year medical student, was arrested in August 2021 by immigration officials at the Ngoma border after they discovered his test results had been forged.
He was charged with one count of forgery and another of uttering, and pleaded guilty to both.
Katima Mulilo magistrate Clara Mwilima sentenced Phiri to 12 months on each count, without an option for a fine, to be served back-to-back.
Phiri was arrested alongside 22-year-old Namibian medical student, Martha Namupala, who was charged with a count of uttering and sentenced to one-year imprisonment.
The duo was travelling back to Zambia to continue their medical studies at Cavendish University after a visit to Namibia.
Phiri and Namupala appealed the sentence, stating it was harsh and would jeopardise their future careers as health practitioners. Namupala later withdrew the appeal.
Justified
On Monday, High Court judge Christie Liebenberg effectively reduced Phiri’s sentence by half, ordering that the two sentences be served concurrently, instead of consecutively. Judge Claudia Claasen concurred with his ruling.
“The appellant’s moral blameworthiness is exacerbated by the fact that he was a medical student who forged Covid-19 test results in circumstances where he must have realised the possible detrimental consequences to others,” Liebenberg wrote in the judgment.
The judge said Phiri’s imprisonment and sentences on each count were justified in the circumstances of the case, and emphasised that while Phiri did not benefit financially from the offence of forgery and uttering, “he stood reckless to the lives of others amidst a pandemic” and should have known better as a medical student.
Selfish and irresponsible
During sentencing, magistrate Mwilima said the accused’s conduct was “selfish and irresponsible” and defeated efforts to combat the pandemic.
She said the duo “have themselves to blame for the demise that will befall them”.
Both Phiri and Namupala said the prison sentence left them “deeply distraught” and that they were both genuinely remorseful.
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