The Appeals Court ruled that the negligence was not gross, hence the penalty imposed was too harsh. Dudu will also pay $1 000 for driving without a licence, failing which she will be sentenced to three months in jail.
Justice Bere said the magistrate who presided over the case misdirected himself in finding that there was gross negligence on the part of Dudu. A Harare magistrate found Dudu guilty of causing the death of a motorcyclist, Mr Graham Martin Millward, while driving without a licence. Through her lawyer Mr Evans Moyo of Scanlen and Holderness, Dudu appealed against the sentence at the High Court.
Dudu committed the offence on March 15, 2010, but was jailed on October 11 last year, after pleading guilty to culpable homicide.
The 34-year-old was charged with culpable homicide and driving without a licence after investigators concluded she had driven without due care. The court heard that Manhenga only had a provisional driver's licence when she crashed into Mr Millward along Sherwood Drive in Mabelreign, Harare. Manhenga is said to have failed to give way to Mr Millward as she turned right into the driveway of a residential property in her Toyota Spacio.
Mr Millward suffered injuries and died on admission to West End Hospital.
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