The Windhoek High Court yesterday struck from the roll the appeal of a man convicted of killing his former employer in 2019.

Judge Naomi Shivute struck from the roll the leave to appeal application of Tuhafeni Tomas (31), citing he was late in launching his application with the court. 

Furthermore, “the notice of leave to appeal is not commissioned and is not accompanied by an affidavit. Thus, there is no proper application before the court,” said Shivute.

Tomas was seeking leave from the High Court so that he may petition the Supreme Court to reconsider the sentence imposed on him by the High Court, stating that it was hefty and shocking.

In October 2019, Tomas was sentenced to 30 years imprisonment for killing his former employer, Chinese national Yanhui Sun on 1 May 2019 in Rehoboth. The court also sentenced him to 10 years imprisonment on the charge of robbery with aggravating circumstances for robbing Yanhui of personal property. The sentence on the robbery charge is running concurrently with that of murder.

Thomas was convicted and sentenced upon his own admission. 

In his plea, Tomas admitted to killing and robbing Chinese national Yanhui, who was his supervisor at a brickmaking factory in Rehoboth on 1 May 2019 by beating him with a brick on his head, stabbing him three times on his head, neck and back, and tying his legs to his arms. 

He also admitted to stuffing a cloth in the mouth of the victim, causing him to gag.

After killing Yanhui, Tomas took his wallet, which had N$3000 in it, and burned his clothes.

Tomas said he killed Yanhui after a disagreement over his monthly salary.

According to the post-mortem report, Yanhui died as a result of blunt head and penetrating neck injuries.

-mamakali@nepc.com.na