Former policeman Gerhardus du Plessis, the man who pulled the trigger in the hit on Chanelle Henning, pleaded guilty to corruption charges in the Pretoria Specialised Commercial Crimes Court on Tuesday.
Magistrate Dawie Jacobs sentenced Du Plessis to 15 years in prison, to run concurrently with the 18 years he is serving for the Henning murder.
The young Pretoria mother was killed in a drive-by shooting after dropping off her five-year-old son at nursery school in Faerie Glen in November.
The corruption charges were unrelated to the Henning case.
They related to events that occurred after Du Plessis had been put on medical leave in May with post-traumatic stress disorder after attending to a scene where an infant had been murdered.
In August, he was asked by one Frederick Olivier to obtain a murder docket in exchange for R10 000.
Du Plessis removed the docket from the office of investigating officer Stephanus Kilian after getting the key under false pretences.
He handed the docket to Olivier in exchange for several payments that amounted to R10 000.
Olivier faced charges of murder and defeating the ends of justice. He was arrested in September 2010 for his alleged involvement in the death of Trymor Ziriri, who was found with a bullet wound to the head.
In mitigation, the court heard that Du Plessis had three minor children and his wife was unemployed. His incarceration meant his family were homeless as they had to move out of police quarters. They were also destitute.
The court heard Du Plessis was aware of the aggravating factors. Among these were that as a member of the police force he owed the highest level of duty and honesty to the republic, the police and the public to uphold and enforce the law. Also, he had employed devious means to gain access to the docket.
Corruption was a serious offence, especially when committed by a policeman, the court heard. - Pretoria News