Bicycle thief must wait Judgement was reserved in the appeal of the bicycle theft case that landed a man in prison for three years.The panel of two judges of High Court, Justice Christie Liebenberg and Nate Ndauedapo reserved judgement in the appeal of Lourenso Pieterse to 17 March 2017.
Pieterse was convicted of theft after he was found guilty of stealing a KHE Stunt bicycle worth N$3 000 belonging to a boy between aged 10 and 11. The bicycle was parked at a playground in Suiderhof, Windhoek.
He was sentenced to three years’ imprisonment on 23 September 2016 and is now in custody for almost three months.
Pieterse’s lawyer, Florian Beukes, argued that the sentence of three years’ imprisonment has “induced a sense of shock”.
He maintained that the approach of direct imprisonment applied by the magistrate was wrong as he did not open his mind to a fine.
Beukes stated that the lower court avoided an appropriate sentence when it did not consider personal circumstances and the fact that the Pieterse was a first offender.
“The magistrate erred on facts with regard to personal circumstances. The misdirection is that there is no appropriate sentence other than direct imprisonment,” Beukes argued.
He requested for the reduction of the three-year term to a fine of N$2 000 or 6 months in default of payment.
State Advocate Eric Moyo argued that the court applied a global approach as opposed to considering mitigation circumstances, each on its own.
“Therefore the sentence of direct imprisonment imposed on the appellant cannot be wrong, but the type of the sentence is a question of whether the court considers it appropriate or objective,” he argued.
According to him the magistrate opted for deterrence and added that retribution is part of the country’s law.
“The courts get angry on behalf of society,” he emphasised.
FRED GOEIEMAN