Outrage from victims as Hewitt gets appeal freedom

CONVICTED paedophile Bob Hewitt may have secured himself months of freedom as he waits for his appeal to be heard.

The development has elicited outrage from those he raped and from women’s rights groups.

On Monday, Hewitt was sentenced to six years in prison for the rape of two of his former tennis students and indecent assault on a third complainant.

The three cases dated back to the 1980s and 1990s.

He was also ordered to pay R100 000 to the Department of Justice to help fund anti-abuse campaigns.

But Hewitt appeared in the High Court in Pretoria yesterday, represented by a new counsel, who managed to secure him at least another month of freedom.

It was not clear why Hewitt opted for new representation.

The disgraced tennis ace’s new lawyer, advocate Johann Engelbrecht, argued that he was not familiar enough with the case to apply for leave to appeal against the sentence and conviction.

Judge Bert Bam allowed Engelbrecht until June 19 to prepare for the application.

He also altered Hewitt’s bail conditions.

Judge Bam warned Hewitt he was not to leave his home in the Eastern Cape except for medical treatment and to attend the court proceedings in June.

Asked by Engelbrecht if Hewitt would be allowed to leave home to consult his legal team, Judge Bam replied: “If the need arises, then you go there to consult him.”

During the proceedings, a combination of anger and sadness was clearly visible on the faces of complainants Theresa “Twiggy” Tolken and Suellen Sheehan.

NGO Women and Men Against Child Abuse representatives could also be heard in the court gallery quietly exclaiming and expressing their unhappiness about the decision.

Standing just metres away from the man who raped her, Tolken told journalists that she believed Hewitt’s legal team “were playing games”.

She said: “He’s been out of jail for the past 30 years. Let them appeal, but put him in jail now. I’m entirely happy with the six-year sentence, but this is nonsense.

“I am losing confidence in our justice system,” she added.

Sheehan, red-eyed and trembling slightly, said: “I’ve lived in my own personal prison for the past 33 years, I’m not the convict here, he is. And he should be in prison, not me.

“And I will continue to live in prison until he goes and pays for what he’s done to me.”

Sheehan vowed she would continue to attend each court appearance. Asked how the delays over the past few years had affected her life, she started to cry.