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'I can't face work yet'
10/07/2007 11:14 - (SA)
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| Marissa Booyse talks outside the court where her attacker was convicted. (Waldo Swiegers, Beeld) |
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Hilda Fourie, Beeld
Pretoria - For Marissa Booyse, the chief prosecutor at the Pretoria Magistrate's Court, the conviction of the man who stabbed her 14 times with a knife holds little comfort.
She will still not be able to comb her five-year-old daughter's hair.
Whether her attacker, Sipho Mnisi was sent to prison for five or 50 years, "will make no difference to my life", said Booyse, 38, on Monday.
"He did it. It doesn't matter how long he will be in prison - in 50 year's time I will still not have the full use of my hand."
Mnisi, 34, was found guilty of attempted murder and robbery with extenuating circumstances in the Pretoria High Court on Monday. The case was postponed until later this month for sentencing.
Booyse will undergo surgery to her right hand, which was injured during the attack on the same day.
Mnisi walked into Booyse's office at the Pretoria Magistrate's Court in September last year.
He stabbed her in the arms, hands and chest with an Okapi knife.
Judge Tholi Vilakazi said Mnisi had testified that he wanted Booyse's cellphone in order to take care of his children.
"The accused indicated that he did not care where he stabbed her."
Andre Fourie, the prosecutor, said Mnisi should get a life sentence.
Booyse was attacked in her office in the court while being surrounded by police officials, he said. "It's by grace only that she is still with us today. The accused did not contribute to the fact that she survived.
"The circumstances under which Mnisi attacked her is an indication that he has no respect for the law," said Fourie.
Booyse has not returned to her place of work since the stabbing.
"I know I must go back, but I cannot face the court yet," she said.
Mnisi was found not guilty on charges of murder and robbery on Peet van der Merwe, 19, at the Centurion Mall in June 2005.
Shortly after the attack on Booyse he escaped from police custody, but was re-arrested.
Booyse said he was never prosecuted on this charge.
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