CAPE TOWN - Child killer Melvin Volkwyn has been sentenced to 20 years direct imprisonment at the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday.
An emotional Volkwyn fought back tears in the dock as he listened to the judgment handed down by Acting Judge Nolundi Nyati, at intervals shaking his, seeming to dispute what he had been convicted of.
Volkwyn, who had pleaded not guilty, was convicted last month for the murder of toddler Orderick Lucas after the boy had gone missing on March 25, 2019. His body was found in a stormwater drain by a group of children playing with a ball when the ball rolled into the drain.
The gruesome discovery was made eight days after Orderick was reported missing. His body covered in maggots and in an advanced state of decomposition.
Judge Nyati said she agreed with the defence's argument put down during sentencing proceedings in mitigation of sentence that "the community had failed Orderick" but described Volkwyn as "a monster wrapped in candy floss" who had taken advantage of the situation after he gained the trust of Orderick's mother, Davidene Lucas, a friend that he had smoked drugs with.
Medical evidence could not confirm the cause of death while a State pathologist said there was a "strong suspicion of strangulation" due to a mark on the toddler's neck.
During conviction, Judge Nyati had said she rejected Volkwyn's version that he had handed the toddler back to his mother Davidene Lucas over a vibracrete fenced wall.
Judge Nyati had previously said Volkwyn had "tailored his evidence" and defence witnesses were unreliable as there were various inconsistencies and "fabrication of evidence".
Cape Times