Cape Town – Two convicted murderers sentenced to life imprisonment for beating a Claremont nightclubber to death have had their appeal attempts dismissed in the Western Cape High Court.
Brent Henry and Juane Jacobs showed no remorse for killing Carl Schoombie and assaulting John Cannon, Judge Nolwazi Mabindla-Boqwana found.
In 2015, Schoombie and Cannon, along with two other friends, left Tiger-Tiger nightclub at 4am and called an Uber to take them home.
As they were travelling, another car suddenly cut the taxi off, forcing them to stop. According to court papers, Henry and Jacobs jumped out, shouting and swearing at Schoombie and his friends.
They tried opening the taxi doors which were locked, while kicking and punching its windows. The taxi driver, Jean Pierre Muroncwa, tried to manoeuvre out of the situation but was confronted with a cul de sac.
The court papers say that Henry and Jacobs accused them of having caused trouble at the club.
“The occupants of the taxi, some of whom were witnesses at the trial, testified that they had no idea what the appellants were talking about,” it emerged in court.
Jacobs was found to have attacked Schoombie by kicking him in the head several times, pressing down on it with his knee and punching with his fists.
He was joined by Henry, who also punched and kicked.
“As the deceased lay there on the ground, helpless, he was bruised, bleeding profusely through his ears, nose and mouth. The appellants left him there in a helpless state.
“The deceased was taken to hospital where he lay in a coma for four days, after which, he died of his injuries.
“The deceased’s cause of death was noted in the post-mortem report as a blunt force head injury and the consequence thereof,” Judge Mabindla-Boqwana’s judgment says.
In his appeal, Henry argued the trial court overlooked his personal circumstances, in particular, that he was a first-time offender and was unmarried with three children, aged 16, 14 and 10.
Jacobs’s counsel argued that the trial court failed to consider his mental health diagnosis, bipolar disorder and attention deficit hyperactive disorder, and consequently, his “moral blameworthiness”.
Judge Mabindla-Boqwana said appellants both elected not to testify in the trial, and the court, therefore, did not have the benefit of their version as to what went through their minds.
“The appellants showed no remorse for their actions, which is usually a pointer as to whether an accused person takes responsibility for his or her actions and is, therefore, a candidate for rehabilitation.
“The first appellant was given several opportunities to explain what he was sorry about when he testified in mitigation of sentence.
"He refused to acknowledge that he had done wrong, but simply stated that he felt sorry for the deceased’s family for the loss of their son. That is not being remorseful.
“This is one of those cases, in my view, where personal circumstances pale into in-consequentiality when compared to the aggravating factors.
“The second appellant was a Muay Thai fighting expert. The first appellant also fully participated. He further threatened one of the witnesses and prevented the witness from seeking help by calling the police,” Judge Mabindla-Boqwana found.
National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said the State welcomed the dismissal of the appeal: “There was no other appropriate sentence the court could hand down for the gruesome crimes.”