Cape Town - Robbing a fellow high school student of his Samsung Galaxy S4 mini smartphone has earned a Ruyterwacht man a 12-year prison sentence - twice as long as the jail term imposed on Paralympian Oscar Pistorius for shooting and killing his girlfriend.
Niyaad Adams was 19 when he robbed Eric Smith, 18, of his phone.
However, he was charged with aggravated robbery - rather than theft - because Smith alleged Adams had pressed a gun to his stomach during the September 2014 incident.
The phone was recovered within a few hours.
Police, however, did not find a gun during the search and the only evidence which the State produced to prove a gun was used was Smith’s testimony.
Adams, on the other hand, called his friend, Nathan Jacobs, as a witness, whocorroborated his version that a gun was not used.
Last December, the Parow Regional Court found the State had proven Adams’s guilt beyond reasonable doubt and convicted him.
The magistrate accepted Adams had been armed at the time, saying he had left the scene in a different direction as Jacobs and it was unclear whether or not he had disposed of a firearm.
Later, when passing sentence, the magistrate said: “You see Mr Adams, when imposing punishment the court must at all times make sure that the punishment it is imposing is reasonable.
“The punishment must always be in keeping with the particular offence and the specific offender.”
Adams, the court heard, was a first offender, was young and had gone from being a drug addict to successfully completing a rehabilitation programme and also assisted the rehabilitation centre as a co-ordinator.
However, the court found the offence was serious and prevalent in the courts.
The firearm was never recovered and Smith was traumatised by the incident, the magistrate pointed out.
Adams, however, took the case on appeal to the Western Cape High Court and the matter was argued before Cape Judge President John Hlophe and Acting Judge Derek Wille on Monday.
The State conceded a weapon was never found, but submitted there was enough time for Adams to conceal or destroy it.
The prosecution pointed out that Adams received a 12-year sentence when the prescribed minimum for the offence he was convicted of was 15 years.
The defence, however, argued the State had failed to prove beyond reasonable doubt Adams had a gun or that any threats were used when the cellphone was taken.
However, judges Hlophe and Wille dismissed the appeal and confirmed the conviction and sentence.
Adams’s lawyer argued Smith was a single witness.
Now Adams’s mother, Firdous Adams, is trying to find a way to take the case further.
“The whole justice system... I am so disappointed.
“Twelve years is a very harsh sentence compared to other cases.”
Cape Argus