Cellphone snatcher ‘killers’ lodge appeal
A FORMER North West police captain and his three accomplices who were convicted and sentenced for killing a teenager, will soon know if their appeal will be granted.
On Friday their defence team told a full bench sitting at the North West High Court that Judge Samkelo Gura should have not accepted the evidence of three witnesses.
Shane Jacobs, 41, Frank Anthony, 48, Nathan Niewenhoudt, 25, and Silliman Ferris, 27, were accused of killing Aobakwe Bodukanele, 17, after allegedly snatching a cellphone from Jacob’s niece, Joslyn Peacock, in December 2010.
According to their defence team, the three witnesses in this case were not credible and that their clients were convicted on the basis of insufficient evidence.
Prosecutor Nkhetheni Monyai, however, submitted that the testimony of all the witnesses was credible enough and also submitted that during the pre-sentence report with a social worker, the appellants admitted to beating up Bodukanele.
The four were convicted in September 2013 after being found guilty of stoning, dragging and beating Bodukanele to death. Court papers state that Bodukanele allegedly robbed Peacock of her cellphone and ran away. Peacock and her sister screamed for help.
At the time Jacobs and his accomplices, who were hanging out at the corner of the street, gave chase and caught Bodukanele.
The papers state that Jacobs and his accomplices began assaulting him. The papers state that Bodukanele was dragged to one of the accused’s home where he received further beatings until the police arrived.
He was later taken to hospital and died the following morning. According to the postmortem report, he died due to head trauma caused by a blunt force.
In March 2014, Jacobs, who was a police captain heading the crime prevention unit in Huhudi, Vryburg, resigned from his position.
In September 2014 he was handed a 18-year prison sentence, Anthony and Ferris were given 15 years and Niewenhout 16 years prison sentences, respectively.
Judge Maleshane Kgwele, Judge Nadia Gutta and Judge Ronald Hendricks listened to both the defence and state submissions and reserved judgment on the matter.
The deceased’s mother, Boitumelo Bodukanele, who could not attend court because she was sick, said she just wanted the case to end. “This is too much, I have long buried my son, his killers were found guilty now I have to be reminded how he was brutally killed again,” she said.