Durban - The fiancée of murdered former Royal Marine Brett Williams will come to South Africa to face her husband’s alleged killers.
And she has penned a letter to the alleged killers, which she asked the Daily News to publish for them to read.
Speaking from the UK on Monday, Louise Scott said that two months after he was beaten to death at a King’s Park rugby match, she and her daughter, Lailah, two, were still battling to come to terms with his brutal end.
“The men who (allegedly) killed Brett have made such an impact on our lives that I need to face them. I also feel I am Brett’s representative and I need to come for him.”
When Williams came to South Africa in early March he had promised them a summer holiday in SA.
“He wanted us to meet his South African family. But instead of a fun-filled holiday, I will be coming to see the faces of the men (suspected of killing him),” she said.
Scott said since her fiancé’s death, her mind had been in turmoil.
“Night after night I have not been able to sleep. These men invaded our lives in such a brutal way that it changed for ever,” she said.
“I feel they should know who I am and what they have done to me and Lailah. I feel useless here in the UK. They need to know Lailah and I exist... that what they have done is huge and (has) affected us greatly.”
She said while she would never get closure from Williams’s death, she wanted more for her daughter.
“I know I will miss Brett every day for the rest of my life. But Lailah’s life is young and I have to do the best I can for her.”
She described the past few weeks as a roller-coaster of emotions: “Lailah speaks fondly of her father. One moment she will say, ‘daddy used to take me swimming but he can’t now because he is in heaven’.”
But on other occasions she would ask when they were going to fetch her father from work, said Scott.
“It has been very difficult for me. But I am back at work. I am an anaesthetist assistant at a local hospital and have to stay focused at work. But once back home I am lost again.”
Scott said she had had no feedback from South African police about the case and relied on information from social networking sites such as Facebook to keep in touch with developments.
“I find this quite ridiculous. That is why I am determined to come to South Africa before the start of the trial. Justice must be served. It will give us some relief.”
Scott said it was ironic that Williams had done tours in war-torn countries like Afghanistan, Iraq and Sierra Leone and had returned home safely.
“As a maritime security officer he sailed the oceans protecting civilian vessels from pirates. He walked the streets in towns in the Middle East and Pakistan. All of this he did unharmed.”
“Yet, he went to South Africa as a visitor and was... killed.
“I am going to visit that place soon. I am not looking forward to it. I have been told it’s a beautiful place... to me it won’t be.”
Williams was killed three hours after a rugby match at King’s Park Stadium on March 23.
Glenwood brothers Blayne Shepard, 23, and Kyle, 25, Andries van der Merwe, also of Glenwood, Dustin van Wyk, of the Bluff, and Grant Cramer, of Escombe, are on bail. The Shepards, Van der Merwe and Van Wyk each face the main count of murder, three counts of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm and crimen injuria.
Cramer is facing the same charges, excluding murder.
None of them has been asked to plead. They are expected to appear in the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday, for a trial date.
In a bid to ease her pain, Louise Scott penned this letter to her husband’s alleged killers:
“I’ve looked at a blank page of paper for some time wondering how first to address you. There are many questions I have for you.
But it always comes back to one - why?
To you Brett was a nameless face. Yet he was attacked relentlessly.
In another world he could have been your mate. He made friends with everyone and would have been a good friend to you.
For the people that loved him, we have lost a precious link in our lives.
He was the bond in our family - someone we could trust and rely on. As a mate he was loving and fun.
His family have lost their only son. His mum was so proud of all his achievements and adored him.
She is heartbroken at losing her only child.
Brett will never see his daughter grow up into a beautiful woman. He loved his little girl so much. It hurts to see her cry and tell me she misses her daddy.
Lailah has been robbed of her father, her guide and protector.
I have been robbed of my soulmate, life partner and best friend.
I miss him so much... no-one can imagine the pain I am in.
We are nameless strangers to the people who killed Brett. But it has turned our lives upside down.
Our lives have been destroyed by inhumane violent actions.
But we are comforted that Brett is loved by God. I also have his precious gift to me... Lailah.”
Louise Scott
Daily News