Child rapist’s mother got him hooked on drugs at age 13, he tells court

Ninow, who raped girl, 7, at Dros, says he didn’t choose to sit in kids’ area

Convicted rapist Nicholas Ninow has told the court that he started using drugs with his mother at a young age.

Ninow, who took the stand on Wednesday in the Pretoria high court, where he was found guilty of raping a seven-year-old girl, told the court he had taken drugs three days before the incident in September 2018.

He admitted to raping the child in a female toilet cubicle at the Silverton Dros restaurant.

Ninow told the court that he left work early three days before the incident.

He called his drug dealer, who delivered drugs to him.

When he was at the Dros, he ordered beer, and said he did not intentionally choose to sit in the kiddies area.

He denied telling the waitress he was waiting for someone.

On the day, Ninow said, he consumed large quantities of alcohol and drugs.

“I started drinking and it got out control.”

He said he moved to the bar area where he sat with a man he did not know.

The court heard that Ninow did not have money to pay his bill. This was despite evidence in court that he told a waitress she should tell him when his tab reached R650.

He said he remembered going to the female toilet to take drugs.

“It’s difficult to say what happened,” Ninow said, breaking down in tears.

“This is something I have to live with . . . I made a mistake.

“I intentionally did those things to her.

“I knew what I was doing. “I was in a different mind state. There was no emotion attached,” he said.

Ninow told the court he started using drugs at the age of 13, and that he was introduced to “chemical” drugs by his mother.

“The first time I consumed chemicals was with my mother.”

He said his mother had always been on drugs.

He described his relationship with his mother, who is 37 years old, as that of a brother and sister.

He claimed drugs gave him a different personality and were a coping mechanism for him. “It’s always been a coping mechanism – all my life.”

Ninow told the court he was still using drugs in prison because “drugs are everywhere in prison”. The trial continues on Thursday

This is something I have to live with. I made a mistake. I intentionally did those things to her

Picture: SUPPLIED TEARFUL TESTIMONY: Sentencing procedures in the rape trial of Nicholas Ninow got under way at the Pretoria high court on Wednesday. During arguments in mitigation of sentencing, Ninow read out a poem to his victim, as well as a letter to the young girl's family. Ninow was found guilty of raping the seven-year-old girl at the Dros restaurant in Silverton, east of Pretoria.