Kimberley - A 43-year-old Prieska man has been sentenced to an effective 25 years’ imprisonment after he was found guilty of murdering his girlfriend, who was found dead the morning after he beat her up so badly that the judge described the photographs of her injuries as “too ghastly to view”.
Neville van Staden, who has a five-page list of previous convictions, murdered his girlfriend, Nancy Johanne Jas, in the Plakkerskamp in Prieska on the night of December 4 2015. On the same night, he also assaulted two other men, Frans Wewu and Phillip Kers, who he also threatened to stab with the blade of a sheep shears. Van Staden was found guilty of murder, assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm and two counts of common assault in December last year.
Jas was found dead in the house she shared with Van Staden the day after he allegedly assaulted her by hitting her and strangling her.
Delivering the sentence earlier this week, Judge Mpho Mamosebo, said it was trite that the triad, comprising the personal circumstances of the accused, the nature and seriousness of the offences as well as the interests of the society, had to be taken into consideration when imposing sentence.
“Counsel conceded that it would be difficult to argue that Van Staden’s previous convictions do not make a sorry reading. Also conceded is that the accused is short tempered and gets infuriated quickly.
“The accused has a catalogue of previous convictions, comprising five pages, which, on the face of it, may show a propensity for criminality but more pertinently violence. He had his first clash with the law in 1990 and his last conviction and sentence was on 17 September 2015. He has one previous conviction of rape.”
Mamosebo pointed out that in this case, Van Staden had been convicted of murder with direct intent (dolus directus).
“The cause of death was asphyxiation due to strangulation, as well as the consequences of multiple assault injuries. The doctor had already confirmed that the deceased had no chance of survival after sustaining such injuries. All the deceased’ s ribs were fractured. The accused cannot stand before court and claim that with such extensive use of blunt force that broke all ribs, caused sub-cutaneous bruising of the scalp on both sides, a laceration in the upper lobe of the right lung, a pulpified left lung, as well as the pulpification of the right lobe of the liver, plus strangulation intention was not to kill the deceased. The colour photographs of the deceased’s multiple external and internal injuries are too ghastly to view.”
Regarding the assault charges, Mamosebo described these “as blatant terror on the members of the community”.
“I find no justification in the conduct of the accused attacking defenseless people. That evening his belligerent behavior was like a ticking-bomb waiting to explode. It is conduct similar to the accused’s that justifies protection of the members of the society by the courts.”
Mamosebo imposed life imprisonment for the charge of murder, 12 months’ imprisonment for each of the two charges of common assault and two years imprisonment for the charge of assault with intent to cause grievous bodily harm.
The sentences for the three assault charges will run concurrently with the sentence of life imprisonment for murder. Advocate Kenneth Kgatwe, from the Office of the Director Public Prosecutions, appeared on behalf of the State, while Advocate Japie Schreuder, from the Justice Centre in Kimberley, represented the accused.