Cop killers each get life x 2
2008-03-21 07:20
Cape Town - Two men were each given two life sentences on Thursday for the murder of a man in an argument about a baseball cap and for the later murder of a police detective who investigated them for the first murder.
Ebraheem Jacobs, 26, and Gareth Leetz, 24, both of the Cape Flats, appeared before Judge André le Grange and two assessors at the Cape High Court, and were sentenced for the murders of Godfrey Hendricks and Woodstock detective, Inspector Lourens le Roux.
Judge Le Grange said murder itself was the most serious of all crimes, but it became even more so when the victim was a police official on duty.
The judge said the murders showed that the two men had no respect for human life.
He added: "The two of you are a danger to society as shown by the barbaric and callous attack on both victims."
Hendricks was shot through the head at close range in a dispute about the ownership of a baseball cap, while Le Roux died in a hail of bullets as he sat in his car outside the police station in broad daylight.
The judge said both accused had come from stable family backgrounds, but had chosen to walk the road of crime.
Demanded a particularly heavy sentence
He said the murder of the on-duty police official was a threat to the very fabric of society and undermined the basis of the country's young democracy.
He agreed with prosecutor Esna Erasmus that the murder of a police official demanded a particularly heavy sentence.
The judge said Jacobs had protested his innocence in court on Thursday for the second time, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.
Leetz's attorney Mike Jennings said he was considering an application for leave to appeal and would decide on Tuesday next week.
- SAPA