Panga-wielding robber in Plett sentenced to 20 years

PLETTENBERG BAY - Cole Bruiners, the man caught on camera robbing an elderly Plettenberg Bay couple using a panga five months ago, has been sentenced in the Plettenberg Bay Regional Court to 20 years’ direct imprisonment.

Bruiners from Pinetrees, Plettenberg Bay, was convicted of robbing the couple in an early morning attack on 14 January while they were walking along Challenge Drive.

He tried to rob the woman of her bag, but she resisted.

A struggle ensued, and he assaulted her with the panga, leaving her with bruises and cuts on her upper body. He stabbed her husband, who had tried to stop the robbery, on the head. He suffered a laceration to the left side of his skull. Bruiners took the couple’s hats before he fled.

The incident was caught on CCTV cameras, and the footage was widely circulated.

He was recognised by a member of the community forum, and a search ensued. Bruiners was arrested the following day and the police found him with the panga. He cooperated with members of the community forum and the police and pointed out where he sold the stolen items.

The couple’s items were later recovered.

State prosecutor Anele Pike, arguing for a harsher sentence, told the court that Buiners was not a first offender and had two previous convictions for dishonesty.

“Previous sentences which were handed down did not have the desired effect of sentence on the accused, as they did not deter or rehabilitate him,” said Pike.

Pike further argued that nothing placed before the court warranted deviation from the prescribed minimum sentence. Pike requested the court to sentence Bruiners in terms of the prescribed minimum and not to order the sentences to run concurrently, given the brazenness of his actions on the day he committed the offences.

The State handed in the victims’ medical reports, which depicted the injuries suffered by the couple and asked the court to consider the injuries they sustained, their age and the trauma they had suffered and are still suffering.

“The community demands harsh sentences for repeat offenders such as the accused. The court needs to send a strong message. The accused pleaded guilty, but he did not hand himself in to the police station. Collaborative efforts of the community forum and the police led to his arrest and him being brought him to book,” said Pike.

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