Pretoria - Two men who took part in a daring shopping centre robbery when they posed as Eskom workers and cut the electricity supply to the mall so the alarms did not go off, are unhappy with their 20-year jail sentences.
Kenneth Walters and David Middelkop turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria to appeal against their sentences after a conviction of murder and robbery.
A security guard was killed by the pair’s accomplices during the attack.
Walters and Middelkop pleaded guilty earlier to the charges on the doctrine of common purpose, but they said they would never have done so had they known the charges against them fell under the sentencing regime in which they faced a life sentence.
They argued that they understood their crimes to fall under the regime where the sentence was 15 years or fewer. The magistrate who sentenced them decided against life imprisonment as he felt there were mitigating factors, so he imposed a 20-year effective sentence on each of the men.
Walters and Middelkop admitted that on December 31, 2019, they were part of a gang that robbed shoppers at a centre near Tsakane in Gauteng. One of them shot and killed a security guard who tried to foil the robbery.
The men said their duty was to pose as Eskom workers while accessing the main electricity supply to the shopping centre.
They used Eskom uniforms and identity cards given to them by the mastermind of the robbery.
The pair switched off the electricity supply and sealed the electricity box with Eskom seals so no one could gain access to it, thereby enabling the rest of the gang to continue the robbery without being hindered by alarms and response units, and with the shopping centre in semi-darkness.
During the robbery, a security guard who tried to stop the robbers was shot in the upper left leg and his femoral artery was severed. He died as a result.
Prior to the two pleading guilty to the charges, the magistrate at the time pointed out to them that the State claimed the murder followed as a result of a common purpose between all the robbers. Therefore they could face a life sentence and not a 15-year sentence if it was “an ordinary murder”, he said.
The pair went ahead and confessed in detail what happened on what they called called a “mission”. They confirmed that they were part of the “crew” who pulled off the robbery and that their contribution facilitated access to the shopping centre, knowing that this would enable the rest of the perpetrators to continue with the robbery.
They admitted that the deceased had been killed during the course of this robbery in which they had partaken in the furtherance of a common purpose. Yet, after they received 20-year sentences, they said they would have never confessed all had they known this was to be their fate.
Acting Judge KJ Mogale said it was clear that the accused had been properly informed that they could face a harsh sentence.
Before the men pleaded, the magistrate had explained to them what the possible sentencing consequences could be, which could follow upon a finding of guilty of a charge of murder committed in the furtherance of a common purpose. Therefore the appellants’ rights to a fair trial in that respect had also not been breached, the judge said.
He pointed out that no accused was ever “charged” with a sentencing regime, but he or she was charged with having committed a particular offence.
The elements would at the end attract a particular sentencing regime, the judge said in turning down their appeal.
Pretoria News