Two PE gangsters get life
DIRECT INTENTION TO KILL WAS EVIDENT, HIGH COURT JUDGE STATES
Two men convicted of a gangland killing were sentenced to life imprisonment in the High Court in Port Elizabeth yesterday. Dewi Walton, 27, and Trenton Ambraal, 33, were earlier found guilty of murdering Rushay Cross and the attempted murder of Pregathon Booth in September last year in the city’s gang-plagued northern areas.
Gang members Walton and Ambraal went out armed in broad daylight on a mission to take out the men, who were from rival gangs. Within two hours after the shooting, they were arrested at a drug post in Highfield Road.
In passing sentence, Judge Glenn Goosen said it was clear this was yet another brutal and senseless murder in a war between street gangs.
The men were sentenced to life imprisonment for murder, eight years for attempted murder, 15 years for the unlawful possession of an unlicensed firearm and 18 months for the unlawful possession of ammunition. The sentences will run concurrently.
The judge found there was direct intention to kill and that the two men had acted with common purpose. He described the murder as cold-blooded and callous, adding that the perpetrators had no regard for the community. Although they had grown up amid rife gang activity, it did not justify becoming involved. “Prevalence of violence can never be an excuse for participation in violence,” he said.
Lieutenant-Colonel Mike Grobler, head of the provincial gang investigation unit set up four years ago to address ongoing gang wars in the north of the city, revealed shocking statistics during sentencing proceedings. He had earlier testified that in the Bethelsdorp and Gelvandale precinct during April 2016 and June 2017, 143 murder cases had been opened and 263 attempted murder cases and 98 cases of unlawful possession of firearm were being investigated. At least one violent, gang-related crime was taking place in the area every day, he said, adding that state witnesses were targeted for elimination despite witness protection programmes.
“Witnesses succumb to pressure or intimidation and refuse to testify or change their versions. Gang lords provide assistance to impoverished members of the community and in some instances support an [entire] street financially. Communities in return hide drugs or interfere with crime scenes.”
Goosen said such heinous crimes can only be described as grave in the extreme. “The trauma of family members suffering from gang-related violence is evident, no less if the victims are also associated with gangs.”
Beryldene Cross, the mother of Rushay, suffers from panic attacks since her son’s murder. She broke down in tears after sentencing, recalling the day she fell to her knees weeping when she saw his body.
This is the fourth conviction of gang affiliates secured by the province’s gang investigation unit in the past three days, police said. – ANA
Prevalence of violence no excuse for participation in violence