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The wife of a convicted murderer who pleaded guilty to going on a three-day robbery spree in Pietermaritzburg’s CBD last year begged the court to help her husband overcome his drug addiction.
Tanya Simons was testifying in mitigation of sentence before magistrate Paul Abelman on Monday in the case against her husband, Keelan Simons, 32.
Simons wore a look of agony on his face and kept holding his head in his hands as he sat in the dock of the Pietermaritzburg Regional Court listening to his petite wife speak of how disappointed she was in him.
In his guilty plea last year, Simons admitted to the three-day robbery spree, terrifying business owners and their employees at gunpoint.
He pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery and one of assault. He admitted that between November 19 and 21 he robbed several businesses, making off with a sizeable amount of cash.
On November 18, Simons said he robbed a supermarket in Woodlands, the suburb where he lived. He held up a cashier, Jaiseelan Naicker, at gunpoint and stole R3 000.
The next day Simons held up the Total garage in Peter Kerchoff Street, netting R1 000. He also went to Basil Bage Motors and made off with R3 000.
On November 21, Simons robbed two fast-food outlets, taking R5 080.
Simons also admitted to assaulting Sibusiso Makaya in Chief Albert Luthuli Road on November 21, and shooting him with a pellet gun.
In 1997, Simons hit the headlines when was convicted of the murder of a young student delivering pizzas in Woodlands.
Simons was jailed for an effective 13 years for stabbing 19-year-old Douglas Comrie on December 4, 1995, and two additional charges of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm. He was just 16 when he murdered Comrie, and was released on parole in 2005.
Simons, who had begun a relationship with Tanya while in prison, married her a few months after he was paroled.
Regret
Tanya, who has a two-and-a-half-year-old daughter with Simons, said that she had an overwhelming sense of disappointment, sorrow and regret when she looked at her husband.
“He was a devoted father and husband and took great care of his family. He is his daughter’s hero. I trusted him and trusted that he was devoted to his family and his faith,” Tanya said.
She said that he also became involved with the church and was a mentor to troubled youth.
However, she said that following Simons’s mother’s death in early 2010, it was clear that his life and that of his family were quickly spiralling out of control.
She said that Simons admitted to having a drug problem, and was addicted to ecstasy and cocaine.
He sought help at Sanca for a short period, but Tanya explained that he soon slipped into denial and would eventually manipulate every situation into an argument as an excuse to get high.
In December 2010, Simons left his marital home and Tanya said that she cut all ties with him and adopted a “tough love approach”.
“I allowed him access to his daughter, but I could not live with him anymore. I could not take it. The man I married had so much potential, he was a good man.
“The man that sits in the dock today is not my husband. He is a stranger who has caused me more pain than I can bear,” she said, her voice cracking with emotion.
Tanya confirmed that she later learned that Simons had lost his job and was sleeping in his car. Then she heard of the armed robberies.
Simon’s wife then apologised to the victims of the robberies.
“Nobody deserves to be treated in the way you were. I just thank God that nobody was physically harmed,” she said.
Begged
Tanya begged the court to get Simons the help he needed.
“Addiction is a genetic disease. Keelan has become everything he once hated. Please help him… Beneath all that mess and rubble, there is a man who was once good,” she said.
Arguing in mitigation of sentence, Simons’s attorney, Nesan Naicker, said that Simons had committed the robberies after he had lost his job and had run out of money and was in a state of desperation.
“He is a victim of circumstances. The government and police do not do enough to address the plague of drug problems in our society,” Naicker said.
Sentencing was adjourned to February 24 to allow for the State to argue in aggravation of sentence. - Daily News