A 37-year-old former police officer who was convicted of murdering his two-and-a-half-year-old daughter in June 2020 has been sent to prison for 20 years.

Sydney Ikosa was also sentenced to a further six years for abuse and neglecting Joy Ikosa, now deceased, and six months for common assault of the same child.

The six years and six months of imprisonment have been ordered to run concurrently with 20 years of murder.

A former police officer, Sydney Ikosa, charged with the murder of his two-year-and-six-month-old daughter, was found guilty in the Katima Mulilo Circuit High Court.

The 35-year-old Ikosa and his wife, Chuma Simekwazi, aged 38, were also facing charges of abuse and child neglect as well as assault to cause serious bodily harm under the Child Care Act.

Both Ikosa and his wife, Simekwazi, were cleared of the charge of assault, as the court was not convinced that the state proved the charge beyond a reasonable doubt.