A farmhand, Kenneth Choker, has been sentenced to 15 years in prison for manslaughter after assaulting Rosaline Sawil, a woman he was hired to care for. Rosaline, who had been suffering from hypomania since 2003, often displayed ungovernable anger and was described as rude to her caregivers. The assault, which occurred in January 2019, led to her death from injuries inflicted with a hoe. Choker admitted to hitting her “so that she would fear him.”
A postmortem revealed severe injuries, including a sutured neck wound, a swollen hip, and pulmonary edema. The High Court convicted Choker of manslaughter in November 2019, ruling that malice aforethought was not proven.
An appeal against the conviction was dismissed in December 2024, with the Court of Appeal affirming the original judgment and sentence. The appellate judges stated that the evidence was solid and the punishment appropriate, declining to interfere with the decision.
