Jailed rapist to appeal
JAILED Dros rapist Nicholas Ninow is expected to apply for leave to appeal against his conviction and subsequent life sentence.
The National Prosecuting Authority confirmed that Ninow was due to apply for leave to appeal tomorrow in the North Gauteng High Court.
He first has to overcome the hurdle of applying for leave to appeal, before his appeal could be heard.
It is not clear at this stage whether he will ask this division or the Supreme Court of Appeal to hear his appeal.
If his leave to appeal bid is turned down, Ninow can still directly approach the Supreme Court.
Ngaa Murombedzi of Women and Men Against Child Abuse said they doubted that his prospects of succeeding with his application were high.
She said Judge Papi Mosopa afforded Ninow a fair trial, and in sentencing him last October, he emphasised important points such as the impact his crime had on society and his bleak prospects of reforming. This was especially in light of the fact that he was still using drugs in jail at the time of his trial.
“Legally he is allowed to appeal, but we hope and believe he will never get a reduced sentence. His sentence was appropriate for the crime he committed,” she said.
Handing down the sentence, Judge Mosopa said he took into account the fact that Ninow was a young adult and had an infant child, but he failed to prove that he was genuinely remorseful.
Mosopa said a happy family outing became a nightmare for the victim and her family after the little girl was raped. This, he said, has had far-reaching implications for the entire family.
The judge said Ninow’s introduction to hard drugs at the age of 13 by his mother was the start of the young man’s spiral into addiction. He said Ninow had been a victim of physical and sexual abuse as a child and appeared to be a “broken person”.
Ninow was sentenced a month after he was found guilty of rape, possession of drugs and defeating the ends of justice in connection with the rape of a then 7-year-old girl in the female toilets at the Dros restaurant in Silverton.
The 21-year-old confessed to raping the girl after she walked in on him while he was in the women’s bathroom using drugs.
He, however, refuted allegations of premeditation and maintained that he was high and had been using drugs for two days before the incident.
Judge Mosopa rejected his version, saying the victim, though a minor when it happened and somewhat unclear of the day in question when giving her testimony initially, had managed to inform the court that he had actually found her in the toilet.