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Sophia Jekecha who was having stomach problems collapsed after suffering a "toxic
trauma" from the nicotine..
Lyndon Nindi, a
mental health support worker who moonlighted as a herbalist has been jailed.
Nottingham
Crown Court heard that Miss Jekecha’s stomach pains had not been resolved by
treatment from her GP and her mother arranged for Nindi, 49, of Kinross Drive,
Newcastle, to travel to her daughter's Aspley home and paid him £90 to cover
the cost of his train fare and a further £150 was to be paid after the
treatment.
But Miss Jekecha
died after snuff was given to her to inhale and in a glass of water and to her
body.
Mitigating,
James Horn said the defendant did not foresee that his actions administering
snuff subjected her to risk of harm beyond making her vomit as part of a traditional
healing process. He did not recognise his behaviour was dangerous.
He was taught
to use snuff by an experience spiritual healer. The court heard vomiting purged
any spirits inhibiting the body.
Nindi, who
practiced as a traditional herbalist and offered his services to the Zimbabwean
community, was jailed for two years concurrently on charges he had pleaded
guilty to of her manslaughter and administering poison or a noxious substance -
the nicotine - to endanger life.
Judge Gregory
Dikcinson QC said Nindi- did not intend to kill her or intend to cause injury
to her.
However, he
said: "As I understand it you have never had any formal or systematic
training in this as to what is involved, as to what the benefits may be and
what the risks. You took on a responsibility for Sophia and were being paid for
it, so this had a commercial element and was not entirely an altruistic
act."
Ms Jekecha
leaves behind an 18-year-old daughter who is now being cared for by other
family members.
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