Tariro Moyo| A 21-YEAR-OLD man, who was last month convicted of assaulting Health minister Obadiah Moyo’s daughter Ashleigh and sentenced to five months’ imprisonment, has appealed against both conviction and sentencing, saying the presiding magistrate erred.

In the sentence, magistrate Learnmore Mapiye suspended two months on condition that Godfrey Utsiwegota pays $600 fine and a further three months on condition of good behaviour.

Utsiwegota challenged his conviction and sentence, saying the magistrate had no basis to convict him since the sole testimony of the minister’s daughter was a lie.

While under cross-examination, Ashleigh admitted that the statement which was submitted in court was written by his father — the minister — and Utsiwegota challenges that the court could not have used the evidence since she was not the author.

Ustiwegota’s lawyer Cathew Manyani told court that Ashleigh had refused to testify against Utsiwegota, who is her boyfriend, but her father forced her.

Ashleigh again admitted in court that she told his father in front of Utsiwegota and Manyani that he was forcing him to testify in a matter she did not want to proceed with.

When asked by Manyani who reported the matter to the police, Ashleigh said it was her father.

Ashleigh also admitted in court that she was violent after she assaulted Utsiwegota, resulting in him sustaining head injuries and had to be rushed to a hospital while in South Africa.

In his appeal, Utsiwegota said the court erred in relying on the evidence of a single witness, who is also the complainant in the matter.

“The court erred at law in making a finding that complainant was truthful and credible contrary to factors on the record or ground, which clearly pointed out that she was untruthful and not credible,” Utsiwegota submitted.

He said it was Chatunga Mugabe’s girlfriend Ovio Mgijima, who assaulted Ashleigh after she had poured wine on her.

-Online