Durban — The High Court will be reviewing the sentence of 18-year-old Ryleigh Naidoo who was handed a five year prison term by the Pinetown Magistrate’s Courts for the murder of a fellow pupil.
Last month Naidoo was found guilty of the murder of Jayden Glazer, who he stabbed at an arranged fistfight after school in 2022 in Ashley, Pinetown.
On Monday after sentencing Naidoo, Magistrate L Gurie said: “The matter will go on automatic review, for a High Court judge to determine if these proceedings have been dealt with accordingly.”
At the time of the murder, the teens were pupils at Chosen Independent Studies where Glazer was in Grade 9 learner and Naidoo was in Grade 10.
Naidoo was 16 at the time, while Glazer was 15.
The trial was heard in-camera due to Naidoo being underage as well as other witnesses. However, the accused turned 18 at the end of January when arguments by the defence and State on the merits of the case were heard before a ruling was made.
In her sentence, magistrate Gurie said that this was indeed a very sad situation where two minor kids were involved in a peculiar situation.
“The State argued that the commission of this offence saw a life lost and it can’t be replaced.
“The both of you were children and Mr Naidoo had the opportunity to walk away and not engage in the fist fight but instead, the State argued, you chose to arm yourself with a knife and went to what was meant to be a fist fight.”
She said the court had not lost sight of the fact that the State did not hand in a Victim Impact Statement, but had called Glazer’s mom to the stand to testify indicating the impact the death of her son had on her.
“By accommodating this testimony the court is better informed about the impact of the crime; this gives the court a more balanced approach to sentencing.
“It was important that the impact of the crime be placed before the court. It was difficult for Glazer’s mother to testify, her testimony was taken into account.
“There’s no doubt that murder is one of the more serious offences and has become a scourge in the community.
“Hardly a day passes without there being media reports of children beaten or killed in a school or outside school premises or children taking the fight from school to somewhere else,” said the magistrate.
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