Three year sentence for ex-marine’s death

Brett Williams, a former Royal Marine, had been working on a ship docked in Durban at the time of his death.

Brett Williams, a former Royal Marine, had been working on a ship docked in Durban at the time of his death.

Published Aug 28, 2015

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Durban – Blayne Shepard, the only man convicted in connection with the fatal beating of a former Royal Marine at Durban’s Kings Park Stadium, was sentenced to three years in jail on Friday.

Sentence was handed down in the Durban Regional Court by Magistrate Trevor Levitt who said though Shepard was a first offender with no previous record, he believed that he needed rehabilitation.

“The courts are not here to seek revenge. They are here for justice,” he added.

Shepard’s mother cried quietly while his father stared into the distance as the sentence was handed down.

The magistrate said he had sympathy for the family because of the public abuse they had endured. Referring to the fact that Shepard had received threats over the incident, Levitt said: “For the public to threaten you is unacceptable. The public are fairly ignorant as far the law is concerned.”

Levitt said that claims that Shepard was a murderer were incorrect, and those who said that, did not understand the law.

Shepard was convicted in June of culpable homicide for his role in the fracas at Kings Park Stadium on the night of March 23, 2013, that led to Brett Williams’ death.

Shepard was initially charged with three others of killing Williams. A fifth, Grant Cramer, was initially charged with assault, but turned State witness.

The case against Andries van der Merwe, Dustin van Wyk, and Shepard’s older brother Kyle was discharged in December.

They had each faced charges of murder, assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, crimen injuria, and public violence.

Levitt ruled “uneasily” that the evidence against the three did not reach the required standards for a prima facie case against them.

Shepard only faced the charge of murder, but because the State was unable to prove that he intended to kill Williams, he was only convicted of culpable homicide and not murder.

His legal team had on Thursday argued for a non-custodial sentence, while the State had demanded a “robust” sentence.

ANA

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