Murder-accused's psychiatric report goes missing
A report on the psychiatric assessment of murder accused Jacob Leselamose (38) of Moshupa has been misplaced and there are no means of retrieving it.
Leselamose is accused of killing three-year-old Jaone Motlhabane, who was a neighbour to Leselamose’s parents in Moshupa by twisting his neck until the baby breathed his last.
The baby was found inside the house of Leselamose’s uncle, a known traditional healer.
Prosecution told court this week that the report that carries crucial information needed for court proceedings has been accidentally misplaced and Leselamose has been booked for another assessment to be carried out on the 8th of December 2022.
For now, the accused will remain locked up in prison since his arrest in May 2022. For the past four months Leselamose has begged to be released, but court rejected his bail application and instead advised him to appeal to the High Court if aggrieved. In an interview with The Midweek Sun Leselamose’s parents had literally shed tears at the deeds of their child who was once a soldier.
They could not understand why Leselamose killed Jaone, saying he was more of an uncle to the deceased baby. They wondered how they will face their neighbours - the baby’s parents.
In court, Leselamose has often appeared restless.
In one of his many court appearances that he is making in court before trial commencement, Leselamose almost went into the chambers leading to law enforcement officers chaining his legs and instructing him to remain still. He disrupted court proceedings by shouting whenever he felt like it, demanding the magistrate’s attention.
In his latest appearance in court this week, he went completely silent when asked repeatedly if he had anything to say regarding what prosecution had said about his psychiatric evaluation report.
Magistrate Ntuli Ditebogo had to repeatedly force him to talk until he responded saying he has nothing to say. However, when Ditebogo was wrapping up the case for the day, Leselamose interrupted her, asking that they expedite his committal which the magistrate said she could not do, as that power lies with the High Court.