Paedophile and murderer Glen Galley has been sentenced in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court to five years’ jail, having pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a 6-year-old girl he lured from a tuck shop into a toilet at a sports club in the Highway area.
He also pleaded guilty to assault on the child and to grievous bodily harm for assaulting the child’s grandmother who came to the little girl’s rescue after noticing she had been away too long after going to buy chips. The attack took place three days after Christmas.
Galley, 47, was deported to South Africa after serving 13 years of a life sentence in Britain for the murder of a frail old woman, Jacqueline Martyn-Box, in London in 2001.
During his court appearances, he apologised to the child’s grandmother during a plea bargain process, but at a later hearing said he intended to plead not guilty. At one point in his case, police issued a warrant for his arrest after he failed to appear in court, but the magistrate cancelled it when Galley said he had misheard the date.
After Friday’s court proceedings, the child’s grandmother said that she was happy with the sentence, which had given her hope in the justice system.
“The moment sentence was passed my emotions took over and I was happy and sad, but I am happy he got five years,” she said.
Private investigator Brad Nathanson, who has been investigating Galley for three years, said the sentence had “taken a huge weight off my shoulders”.