Update
KNYSNA NEWS - Convicted murderer Waydon Bezuidenhout has been granted leave to appeal his life sentence for killing Mawande Kondlo, the owner of Wandu Tours and Stays, in January 2022.
Judge Patric Gamble made this decision in an electronic judgment in the Knysna High Court division on Friday 1 November, granting Bezuidenhout leave to appeal his life sentence for murder, in front of a full bench of the court.
Gamble sentenced Bezuidenhout on 3 October to life imprisonment for murder, five years for kidnapping and 12 months for defeating or obstructing the administration of justice. The sentences all run concurrently.
On 8 October Bezuidenhout's advocate Louise Luterek filed an application for leave to appeal against only the sentence of life imprisonment.
There was no application for leave to appeal his conviction on any of the other counts, said Gamble.
'Insufficient attention'
Luterek argued that the full bench might find the sentence of life imprisonment "was unduly harsh" and, in particular, because there were substantial and compelling reasons which existed and which should have been taken into account by the trial court in sentencing Bezuidenhout.
Luterek dealt in detail with Bezuidenhout's personal circumstances and argued that the trial court had paid "insufficient attention" to this.
"With that argument I do not agree," said Gamble.
'Significance of acceptance'
"The fact that the accused has not sought leave to appeal against the conviction means, however that he now accepts that the kidnapping and abduction of the deceased must have taken place around 22:30 on the night of Saturday, 15 January 2022.
"The significance of the acceptance of that fact is that it means that the accused accepts that he was not in the company of the deceased from that time until approximately 05:00 the following morning - a period of some six-and-a-half hours.
'Held captive by others'
"As the judgment has found, the accused arrived at the Denron scene shortly after 05:00 and was thus with him for approximately another 45 minutes.
"It also means that Kondlo was held captive by others (whose precise identity is unknown to the court) and the circumstances under which he was so held, and just what he endured and what was done to him during that period, are also unknown to the court.
"In my view there is a reasonable prospect that another court will find that substantial and compelling circumstances existed to avoid the imposition of a sentence of life imprisonment," said Gamble.
The factors were:
• Bezuidenhout was a first offender;
• He had consumed alcohol continuously and his behaviour might have been influenced by that;
* He was not the sole perpetrator of the offences and the others have not been brought to book;
* He left Kondlo in the company of others for almost the entire duration of the kidnapping and he only became involved again with Kondlo towards the end of the escapade and shortly before the body was dumped in the forest.
"It might therefore be possible that another court considers that the accused's involvement in the matter is less reprehensible than the others," said Gamble.
Other factors included:
* Bezuidenhout spent some two years in jail awaiting trial;
* He "eventually acknowledged" involvement in Kondlo's death, "albeit that he was untruthful about the full extent of such involvement";
* He showed genuine remorse for the harm and hurt he has caused to Kondlo's family;
* He held down a steady job in his own business before his arrest "and may well be a good candidate for rehabilitation in prison".
Gamble said Bezuidenhout "has undertaken to actively assist the police in tracking down the other persons who were involved in these crimes".
As a result Gamble said he was persuaded that leave to appeal against the sentence of life imprisonment on the murder count be granted.
Previous articles:
Families bear the brunt | Knysna-Plett Herald
Killer's 'mistake' | Knysna-Plett Herald
Life sentence for murder | Knysna-Plett Herald
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