Cape Town - Robbing a fellow high school pupil of his Samsung Galaxy S4 mini has earned a Ruyterwacht, Western Cape, man a 12-year-prison sentence – twice as long as the jail term imposed on Paralympian Oscar Pistorius for shooting and killing his girlfriend.
Niyaad Adams was 19 when he took the cellphone from 18-year-old Eric Smith.
He was charged with aggravated robbery – rather than theft – because Smith alleged that Adams had pressed a gun to his abdomen during the incident in September 2014.
The phone was recovered within a few hours.
But police did not find a gun during a search, and the only evidence the State produced to prove that a gun was used was the testimony of Smith.
Adams, on the other hand, called his friend Nathan Jacobs as a witness, who corroborated his version that a gun was not used.
In December, the Parow Regional Court found that the State had proved Adams’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt and convicted him.
The magistrate accepted that Adams had been armed at the time, saying that he had left the scene in a different direction to Jacobs and that it was unclear whether he had disposed of a firearm.
Later, when passing sentence, the magistrate said: “You see, Mr Adams, when imposing punishment, the court must at all times make sure that the punishment it is imposing is reasonable. The punishment must always be in keeping with the particular offence and the specific offender.”
Adams, the court heard, was a first offender, was still very young and had gone from being a drug addict to successfully completing a rehabilitation programme, and even assisting the rehabilitation centre as a co-ordinator.
However, the court found that the offence was serious and prevalent in the courts.
The firearm was never recovered and Smith was traumatised by the incident, the magistrate pointed out.
Adams, however, took the case on appeal to the Western Cape High Court, and the matter was argued before Judge President John Hlophe and Acting Judge Derek Wille on Monday.
The State conceded that a weapon was never found, but submitted that there was enough time for Adams to conceal or destroy it.
The prosecution pointed out that Adams had received a 12-year-sentence when the prescribed minimum for the offence he was convicted of was 15 years.
The defence, however, argued that the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that Adams had a gun or that any threats were used when the cellphone was taken.
However, Judge Hlophe and Judge Wille dismissed the appeal and confirmed the conviction and sentence.
Adams’s lawyer argued that Smith was a single witness.
Now Adams’s mother is trying to find a way to take the case further. “The whole justice system… I am so disappointed.
“Twelve years is a harsh sentence. Why do others get light sentences for more serious cases?” she asked.