Two men, Jacobus Barendse and Ashley Diergal were sentenced in the Western Cape High Court to life imprisonment for the murder of 82-year-old Reginald Arthur Gordon, the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) said.
Western Cape NPA spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said the court convicted Barendse and Diergal on charges of housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery with aggravating circumstances and murder.
“It also convicted Barendse on a charge of attempting to defeat the ends of justice,” Ntabazalila said.
“Barendse was sentenced to 15 years direct imprisonment for housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery with aggravating circumstances, eight years direct imprisonment for attempting to defeat the ends of justice and life imprisonment for murder.”
Ntabazalila said that Diergal was sentenced to 15 years direct imprisonment for housebreaking with intent to rob and robbery with aggravating circumstances and life imprisonment for murder.
He was discharged on the count of attempting to defeat the ends of justice following his successful application for acquittal in terms Section 174 of the Criminal Procedure Act, he said.
The court ordered that all sentences run concurrently with the life imprisonment imposed for murder.
Advocate Emily van Wyk, who led the State’s case told the court that Gordon lived with Alton De Wet and his fiancé Arista Coetzee in Strand.
Gordon was De Wet’s father’s friend and recommended Barendse for construction work in the couple’s house, Van Wyk told the court. Barendse also assisted De Wet on his business in Ceres and was present when he was paid money for a truck he sold.
The NPA said on February 22, 2019, Barendse asked Diergal to go with him to his employer’s property to fetch something his employer had left for him.
“They both entered the yard by jumping over the wall and entered the house through a window. Once inside, they started ransacking the house but realised the deceased was inside the house,” the NPA said.
“It is at this stage where it gets muddy as both accused blame each other for the brutal murder. The deceased body was found blood-soaked, tied with cables and with a pillow in his mouth.”
The men took television sets, jewellery, the couple’s bakkie and R235,000.
The television set was sold at a local tavern in Lwandle and outside the the tavern, Barendse got into a fight with gang members and they were robbed.
“Diergal ran away as he was pointed with a firearm by one of the gangsters. Barendse took the vehicle and later approached a local mechanic who helped him change its number plates,” the NPA said.
“The mechanic who later became a State witness was paid between R800 and R1,000. Barendse, with another friend, also used the vehicle to transport people between Strand and Swellendam to make money.”
Police traced the bakkie’s movements between February 22, 2019, and February 24, 2019, using the License Plate Recognition system.
The NPA said Barendse also visited his brother, Rick Ashley Barendse, in Sir Lowry’s Pass Village and left the vehicle’s canopy there.
His brother became a State witness and told the police where he left teh canopy.
Van Wyk argued for the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment, and said that there were no substantial and compelling circumstances which allowed the court to deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life imprisonment.
She said there was no remorse from the accused.
Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions, Advocate Nicolette Bell, expressed shock at the callous murder of an elderly man and praised the investigating prosecution team.
“It can never be over emphasised how important human life is and therefore we will be vigorous in our pursuit of these cases in order to serve as deterrent to would be murderers,” she said.
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