Judges agree crime victims need a voice

AFTER his 18-year-old son Cole died in a car crash in Cape Town in 2012, Joburg father Wayne Wickham embarked on a Davidversus-Goliath court battle with prosecuting authorities in an attempt to ensure that victims of crime have more of a say when perpetrators enter into plea bargains with the State.

He was partly successful when two Western Cape High Court judges commented in a recent judgment that courts should ensure that victims of crime are heard.

“A court should, during the sentencing proceedings, where possible strive to give victims of crime a voice,” Judge Robert Henney wrote.

Annika Slabbert, 23, was convicted in the Stellenbosch Magistrate’s Court in September last year of culpable homicide after entering into a plea bargain with the State.

The terms saw her sentenced to correctional supervision.

Slabbert admitted negligence and had beenchatting to her friends and not focusing properly on other vehicles on the road.

The agreement recorded that Slabbert underwent psychiatric treatment as a result of the incident.

When the magistrate was called on to consider the proposed sentence, Wickham and his wife asked to be given an opportunity to address the court on the consequences Cole’s death had had on the family.

It was made clear in court that Wickham and his wife were opposed to the plea and sentence agreement.

Wickham’s attorney told the magistrate that he sought to exercise his clients’ rights in terms of the Victim’s Charter, and hand in a victim impact statement on Wickham’s behalf.

They were, however, given no such opportunity.

The Wickhams approached the High Court for relief.

While Judge Henney decided that he was satisfied with the manner in which the proceedings had been conducted, he added that the magistrate should have “exercised some degree of judicial maturity, civility and empathy”, and allowed Wickham or his wife to express their feelings.

He dismissed the application, and Judge Anton Veldhuizen agreed.

Wickham is preparing to take the matter further.