Klaaste admitted to murdering the 15-year-old by repeatedly hitting him with stones on the head because he claimed the teenager had robbed him of R2 prior to the incident.

A PRIESKA man has been sentenced to an effective 15 years imprisonment for raping a 14-year-old girl and murdering a 15-year-old boy. The two robbed him of R2.

On Friday, Dawid Klaaste, who turned 22 years old on Thursday, was sentenced in the Northern Cape High Court after being found guilty of murder and rape, following the rape of a 14-year-old girl and the murder of a 15-year-old boy, Enrico Neels, in October 2015.

The two incidents occurred within minutes of each other.

The body of Elrico Neels was found in a ditch at the Gariep High School.

Klaaste pleaded guilty to the murder charge and in his plea explanation admitted to murdering Neels by repeatedly hitting him with stones on the head. He also claimed that Neels and his friends had robbed him (Klaaste) of R2 before the incident.

He, however, denied raping the 14-year-old victim, a charge on which he was found guilty earlier this years.

During her judgement, Judge Bulelwa Pakati said that although Klaaste had pleaded not guilty to the rape charge, he did not present any evidence on the matter and decided to remain silent.

“The complainant in the matter testified through an intermediary. She indicated that she was afraid of the accused and found it difficult to testify about the matter.

“She told the court that she was on her way home after visiting her uncle, who stayed in Plakkerskamp. It was between 10 and 11pm.

“She felt someone grabbing her from behind and she saw that it was Klaaste. He threw her onto the ground and she pleaded with him not to hurt her. He dragged her to some nearby bushes. The complainant said the accused lifted her hands behind her neck and took off her underwear. She said he took off his pants and penetrated her.

The complainant said that the accused was on her for a long time and became ‘lame’ at some stage and she managed to push him off and run away. She ran to his mother’s house and told her and the uncle of the accused about the incident,” said Pakati.

According to victim impact report, Neels suffered from Foetal Alcohol Syndrome and received a disability grant, from which his family also benefited.

Neels’ mother, in the report, stated that Klaaste did not show remorse for what he had done as he justified his actions by alleging that the deceased was homosexual. The report further stated that his family was unable to make peace with the death as they believed the accused was not honest with regarding to what happened on the day of Neels’ death.

In the pre-sentence report Klaaste reported that he had talked to Neels on the night of the incident and told him that he had warned him several times in the past to stop making conversation with his sister but that he did not want to listen.

He then decided to “hurt him”. The accused stated that his intention was not to kill the victim but to “teach him a lesson”.

Pakati said that this was clearly not the reason Klaaste mentioned in his statement (where he said that Neels and his friends had robbed him of R2) and this showed that he did not took the court into his confidence by telling it what exactly happened that led to the death of Neels.

A victim impact report regarding the rape charge indicated that the complainant’s parents abused alcohol and substances and that they called the victim names, especially after the incident, while under the influence of alcohol.

The report added that her parents did not support her after the rape ordeal, which has had a negative effect on her. It also stated that her parents were not positively involved in her life, which could be the reason why she left school and in currently living with friends and family.

In mitigation of sentencing, Klaaste’s legal representative stated that Klaaste had endured a lot of hardship as a child as a result of his parents abusing alcohol and drugs.

Their children had to fend for themselves.

He said that Klaaste had to witnessed his father’s abuse of his mother, adding that his client was still youthful and a first offender.

Pakati said that the Klaaste’s personal circumstances, as mentioned by his legal representative, in addition to the fact that he was convicted of murder with dolus eventualis as a form of intent, were “cumulatively substantial and compelling, justifying a departure from the imposing of life imprisonment concerning both charges”.

She then sentenced Klaaste to 12 years imprisonment for murder and 15 years imprisonment for rape. The sentences will run concurrently.