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Dad 'should've set example'
13/07/2007 21:12 - (SA)
Cape Town - A man who took his son for a test drive and then hijacked the car from the owner was jailed for eight years on Friday.
Cape Town Regional Court Magistrate Johnny Vermeulen said he agreed with prosecutor Nation Loliwe that the father, Norman Pieterse, 50, should have been an example to his son, Patrick, but, instead, got Patrick into serious trouble.
Defence counsel George Catsicadellis reminded the court that Pieterse had been in custody awaiting trial for seven years, and that the harsh conditions for awaiting trial prisoners amounted to double the time.
Vermeulen said the legislature believed long sentences were a deterrent to serious crime, and thus stipulated a minimum 15-year sentence for armed robbery.
Vermeulen said he disagreed that heavy jail sentences were a deterrent, as many other factors had to be taken into account.
Both father and son had been on trial together for the incident nine years ago, but due to technicalities concerning the son's identity, he was given the benefit of the doubt and found not guilty.
At their previous appearance on July 4, Vermeulen noted that he would deliver judgment on Friday the 13th, but said he hoped the unlucky day would not bring too much trauma for them.
Forced at gunpoint
The hijacking happened on a Friday in July 1998, when the father arranged to go with his son for a test drive in a Citi Golf belonging to Paul van der Riet.
Vermeulen said Van der Riet accompanied them all around the Cape Peninsula, and was forced at gunpoint out of the car on the busy N1 highway near Bellville.
An aggravating factor was that the father ordered Van der Riet to run across the three-lane highway, pointing his firearm at Van der Riet as he ran.
Vermeulen said he took into account that Pieterse, who had cancer, had been in custody awaiting trial for seven years, and that this had caused his health to deteriorate.
Vermeulen said Pieterse had had no less than six different lawyers during the protracted trial, and that he had only himself to blame for the fact that the case had dragged on for nine years.
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