Pretoria - The so-called "Springs Monster" lost his bid to appeal his effective 35 year jail sentence for torturing his five children.
His advocate turned to the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria on Monday to ask for leave to appeal his sentence before a full bench (three judges) of the court.
The father, who cannot be identified to safeguard his children, is of the opinion that 35 years in jail was a shockingly harsh sentence. The father referred to it as a so-called Methuselah sentence.
It was stated in papers before Judge Eben Jordaan that the father was of the opinion that another court would rule in his favour and lessen his sentence.
The 41-year-old was in October sentenced to a total of 67 years imprisonment after he was convicted on 16 charges. This included 10 years each for the rape of his then 16-year-old daughter and another 10 years for attempting to murder his then 11-year-old son.
Judge Jordaan at the time ruled that some of the sentences had to run concurrently with others, so that the father at least had the hope of being released one day.
Counsel for the father said the court underplayed his personal circumstances or did not pay much regard to it, while the interests of the community was over emphasised.
The father remained mum during his lengthy trial, although he denied that he had tortured his children, raped his daughter and attempted to murder his son.
He, however, did call expert witnesses who analysed his troubled childhood, in the hope that this would serve as mitigation during sentencing.
His psychologist said he presented with the characteristics of a sadist and a psychopath. This, she said, was due to a combination of facts, including genes and environmental factors. She also said that his troubled childhood contributed to the person he was today.
It was said that he grew up with violence in his home and that his mother had shot his father, after which she had committed suicide. He claimed that he was also raped on occasion by a friend of his father.
He also did not finish school and Weskoppies Hospital said in a report that he had a “low average intellect.”
Judge Jordaan, however, yesterday concluded that it was a reasonable sentence, especially given the fact how the father had treated his children over a number of years. The judge said in his opinion no other court would come to a different finding.
The father did not attend Monday's court proceedings.
After he was sentenced last year and while he was taken down to the holding cells, the man vowed to appeal his sentence. He said he never did everything as claimed in court and that he would do anything to one day see his children.
They are all in a place of safety and the court heard that they attend a special school. The eldest two children were not allowed to attend school while they lived with their parents in the so-called Springs "house of horrors". Their siblings were at the time too young to attend school.
Their mother, 40, was spared a prison sentence, as Gauteng High Court, Pretoria Judge Eben Jordaan, handed her a suspended sentence. He sentenced her to five years imprisonment, suspended for five years, provided that she underwent therapy during this time.
This was after she was convicted on several charges of child abuse and neglect. The court accepted that she too, was a victim of her husband’s abuse.
Clinical psychologist Franco Visser, who issued a report regarding the mother to the court, was of the opinion that she was a defenseless victim. “I cannot differ,” the judge last year said.
A psychologist who held various interviews with him said the father was a danger to those close to him.
He was manipulative and tried to control everyone around him. That is why he kept his children imprisoned in their double story home. He refused that they go to school and told the psychologist that it was because he “feared for their safety.”
Judge Jordaan said this was clearly a lie.