Amber Lee Hughes Sentencing: Court Rebukes Defence Witnesses For Overstepping Expertise In Child Murder Case

The Johannesburg High Court has issued a stern warning to defence witnesses testifying in the sentencing of convicted murderer and rapist Amber Lee Hughes, after concerns were raised that parts of their testimony strayed beyond their professional expertise.

Hughes appeared in court on Monday for sentencing following her conviction for the brutal rape and murder of four-year-old Nada-Jane Challita, the daughter of her former partner. The horrific crime took place in 2023, sending shockwaves through the community.

During proceedings, social worker Johanna Wolmarans presented her assessment of Hughes’s emotional and mental condition, but her testimony soon drew the attention of Judge Richard Makhabela.

Amber Lee Hughes Sentencing: Court Challenges Defence Testimony

Wolmarans told the court that Hughes had been diagnosed with several neurological disorders that severely affected her mental wellbeing. She went on to state that these conditions were untreatable — a remark that prompted the presiding judge’s intervention.

Judge Makhabela immediately questioned the appropriateness of the social worker’s statements, saying her comments ventured into areas reserved for qualified medical experts.

“The objection is that you seem to be going beyond what the report has said, and to the extent that it is true that you went beyond what the report has said. You are not qualified to give evidence pertaining to mental illness, since you are not a psychologist and not a psychiatrist. Do you understand that?”

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Judge Makhabela reiterated that Wolmarans’s testimony must remain within her professional capacity as a social worker, emphasising that only psychologists or psychiatrists are qualified to assess and testify on mental illnesses.

The court is expected to continue with sentencing proceedings, where the final arguments from both the prosecution and defence will be heard before judgment is handed down.

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