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Waterkloof 4: 'Not racism'
15/01/2007 19:06 - (SA)
Pretoria - A former schoolboy, convicted of killing an unknown black man and assaulting another, did not act due to racism, Pretoria regional court heard on Monday.
Court-appointed probation officer Heidrun Buhrow told the court that Frikkie du Preez, one of the so-called "Waterkloof Four", did not have a racist background.
"He did not act to kill the man, he acted to help his friends who told him the man was a housebreaker," Buhrow told the court.
Like his co-accused, Christoff Becker, Du Preez denied to his probation officer that the man they assaulted was the man who died.
Du Preez, Becker, Gert van Schalkwyk and Reinach Tiedt were found guilty in 2005 of the murder in 2001 of an unidentified man and of assaulting another.
Recommended imprisonment
On Monday, the court started hearing testimony from court-appointed probation officials who were testifying on the four's background and state of mind when they committed the crimes.
Becker's and Du Preez's probation officials finished their testimony on Monday and Van Schalkwyk's and Tiedt's officials were expected to testify on Tuesday.
Their testimony may be considered by the court when deciding what their sentence should be.
Buhrow and Becker's official, Erna Pieterse, recommended imprisonment, but said it should be less than the required minimum sentence of 15 years'.
Both indicated that some other sentences also could be considered.
Jaap Celliers SC told the court that Becker was "good person material" and a lighter sentence than imprisonment should be considered. He made similar remarks about Du Preez.
In both cases, he said, their personality types, youthfulness and the use of alcohol on the night when the incidents took place should be considered by the court.
Earlier a probation officer told the court that Becker should be imprisoned for the crime.
Intend appealing against verdict
Becker, Du Preez, Van Schalkwyk and Tiedt first appeared in court in August 2003.
They have been convicted of assaulting a first victim in Constantia Park, Pretoria, then kicking and punching to death a second man in a park in Moreleta, while returning from a nightclub in Hatfield.
Their lawyers already have indicated they intend appealing against the guilty verdict.
- SAPA
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