YEARS of attending court proceedings in the case involving the man who murdered her son came to an emotional end yesterday for Gaynor Adams.
Crying inconsolably, she was ushered away from court by family members after the proceedings, and could not bring herself to talk to anyone.
Aljar Swartz, 20, was handed down a sentence of 22 years' imprisonment by Judge Elize Steyn for the murder of 15-year-old Lee Adams, and inciting others to commit murder in 2013.
Swartz had initially pleaded not guilty, but in March he admitted to strangling Adams, and stabbing him multiple times before decapitating him.
Adams’s body was found by a security guard at the derelict Florida Primary School in Ravensmead, and his head was found in a plastic bag in the backyard of Swartz's mother's house.
Swartz had planned to sell Adams’s head and other body parts to a sangoma for R5 000. Swartz also admitted to inciting three of his friends to commit murder by luring potential victims to their death so he could sell their body parts.
Swartz’s legal representative, Sheriff Mohamed, had previously brought forward a motion to have the case reopened because he said Swartz was possessed by the devil. Mohamed had brought Reverend Cecil Begbie in to testify in mitigation of sentence.
But Judge Steyn said yesterday whether or not Swartz was indeed possessed could not be used as an excuse.
Professor Sean Kaliski, who was part of the psychiatric panel who observed Swartz at Valkenberg Hospital last year, said Swartz showed psychopathic traits and no remorse for his crime.
Judge Steyn said yesterday she had considered this and Swartz’s personal circumstances for sentencing.
“The accused has never been a constructive member of society. He had the opportunity to go to school, which he treated with disrespect. He was so disrespectful that he threatened to kill his mother.”
Swartz was 17 when he murdered Adams and has been in police custody since 2013.
The sentence was backdated three years, which means Swartz will spend 19 years in prison.
When Swartz was sentenced, loud cries could be heard from the public gallery.
Adams’s father, Deon Louw, with tears in his eyes, was also unable to say much after the court proceedings.
He left shortly after Gaynor Adams.
Adams’s aunt, Johanna Adams, said the family was unhappy with the sentence and wanted Swartz to spend the rest of his life in jail.
“He should sit there and never come out. He has caused this family so much pain,” Johanna Adams said.
But Swartz's aunt, who did not want to be named, felt the opposite, saying they expected the court to be a bit more lenient.
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