Said Mwanyongo: “This court is, therefore, of the view that she [Moffat] is an exemplary nurse unlike other rude nurses that are out there.
“The court also wishes to appeal to rude nurses out there to either leave the calling or remain but repent for the good of mankind. It is the finding of this court that the two women are guilty of the offence of assault causing bodily harm.”
The magistrate revoked bail for the two women and said he will hear mitigating factors from the convicts’ lawyer, Legal Aid Bureau chief State advocate Rogers Mpombeza, on Friday.
The hearing also proceeded in the absence of police prosecutor Isaac Kadawayula, who was transferred from Blantyre Police Station to Lilongwe.
As the magistrate read out the sentence, the two women remained calm and composed and did not show any sign of emotions and neither did their relatives.
However, the two women shielded their faces with a cloth as they walked out of court to prevent the media from taking any pictures.
Nurses from QECH and representatives from the Coalition of Health Workers were also present to offer moral support to their colleague.
Reacting to the conviction, the coalition’s executive director Tiyamike Harold Goliati expressed satisfaction, saying they expected justice to prevail on the matter.
He said: “We are happy that justice has been served. We have waited for 231 days for such an outcome from the day our colleague was assaulted while in the line of duty.” However, Mpombeza did not grant the media any interviews as he was engaged with his clients discussing their incarceration.
