IT IS unthinkable to reintegrate the woman convicted of kidnapping three-day-old Zephany Nurse from hospital into society, as she is still manipulative and deceitful, the State argued in the Western Cape High Court yesterday.
As the 18-month court case comes to an end with sentencing expected on Monday, State prosecutor Evadne Kortje asked that the 52-year-old kidnapper receive a 10- to 15-year sentence for her crimes.
The kidnapper, who can't be named to protect Nurse, who now goes by a different name, was convicted in March by Judge President John Hlophe of kidnapping, fraud and contravention of the Children’s Act.
Nurse was stolen from Groote Schuur Hospital on April 30, 1997, and even though she was found guilty, the kidnapper maintains her innocence.
It is her version that she arrived at Wynberg station on April 30 and was handed a baby by a woman named Sylvia – a nurse who worked at Groote Schuur Hospital, she said.
Kortje submitted during closing arguments yesterday that the kidnapper had shown no remorse or empathy, and she had continued her manipulative behaviour by blaming others.
“The accused shows a lack of insight in failing to appreciate that she is not the victim in this matter. The accused's malign influence must be removed for Zephany Nurse to explore the reunification with her biological parents, Celeste Nurse and Morné Nurse. She has lied to the very people she loved, including her husband and sisters,” Kortje said.
Defence lawyer Reaz Khan argued that his client's inability to conceal a lack of remorse and empathy, and her inability to pretend otherwise suggested an overwhelming need to protect her identity.
“She could have pretended to the court that she was remorseful to get a lighter sentence, but her need to maintain her internal sense of self and identity takes precedence over external gain. Her rejection of the plea bargain offered may be understood in a similar way,” Khan argued.
Celeste and Morné Nurse went for 17 years without knowing where their daughter was but, in a twist of fate, they were reunited with her last year after Zephany and her younger biological sister were enrolled at the same school and pupils noted how remarkably alike they looked.
Morné invited Zephany and his younger daughter for lunch, and DNA tests later proved she was the couple’s child.
The couple, who went on to have three more children, divorced in 2014.
Celeste was not in court yesterday, and Morné said he could not forgive the woman who stole his child. “She has absolutely no feeling. She has never told my daughter the truth, so there is no forgiveness from my side,” Morné Nurse said.