Accused number two in the Coligny murder case, Phillip Schutte, has lost a lot of weight ever since he was kept in police custody in October last year.

This was heard in the North West high court on Thursday when his legal representative, Pieter Smit, tried to convince judge Ronald Hendricks to be lenient in sentencing him.

Schutte and accused number one, Pieter Doorewaard, were found guilty of killing Matlhomola Mosweu after accusing him of stealing sunflower heads amounting to R80 in April 2017. The court heard that Schutte was the one who pushed Matlhomola out of a moving bakkie.

Advocate Smit said since he was locked behind bars, Schutte has lost over 40kg of his body weight. “He lost about 44 kilogram since he was kept in custody,” Smit said.

He said Schutte was also experiencing stress and that he was depressed. He said Schutte never defeated the ends of justice. “He cooperated with the police during the investigations,” Smit said.

He said Schutte was the sole provider and  primary caregiver to his family.   Smit asked judge Ronald Hendricks to consider those factors.

Schutte and Doorewaard have been convicted of murder, kidnapping, pointing of a firearm , intimidation and theft.