Three life sentences for man who killed family

A young South African man convicted of murdering his wealthy parents and brother and maiming his sister in a frenzied axe attack was handed three life sentences yesterday.

Judge Siraj Desai described 23-yearold Henri Van Breda’s January 2015 rampage as “savage and vicious”, with “an almost unprecedented degree of disregard for one’s family”.

Van Breda was also jailed for 15 years for the attempted murder of his sister. After a trial that had sought in vain to understand the motive for the bloodbath, Van Breda remained emotionless as the sentence was given.