Court upholds state appeal against 'shockingly inappropriate' sentence for father who shot son dead

The Gauteng Division High Court has upheld an appeal by the Director of Public  Prosecutions (DPP) against the “shockingly inappropriate” sentence imposed on a Vanderbijlpark man who shot his son dead after allegedly mistaking him for a burglar.

Coert Johannes Kruger, 51, was cautioned and discharged by the regional court on September 13 2019 without serving any jail time after pleading guilty to killing his son.

“The accused shot and killed his own son, Coert Johannes Kruger Junior, who was on the roof of his grandmother’s house on the evening of 22 March 2019. He pleaded guilty to a charge of murder and explained that he reacted to an alarm activation at his mother's house (grandmother to the deceased) and met with a security guard from the security company that called him earlier. After an investigation the accused and the security guard located a person on the roof and he immediately shot at him, only to realise at a later stage that it was his own son,” said National Prosecuting Authority spokesperson for Gauteng Phindi Mjonondwane.

Mjonondwane said the state's appeal was based on the premise of misdirection and it further held the view that the trial court had imposed a sentence that was “shockingly inappropriate”.

“The NPA challenged the decision of the learned magistrate citing that, in his finding, the learned magistrate failed to consider recent case law expounded in a Lenasia case with similar material facts, wherein a father was sentenced to 10 years, suspended for a period of 5 years for mistakenly shooting and killing his own son.

“The appeal court found that the learned regional magistrate erred by overemphasising, amongst others, the effect of the crime on the respondent's psyche and underemphasised the seriousness of the offence,” Mjonondwane said.

“The court underemphasised the fact that the respondent fired a firearm in the direction of the deceased without any imminent danger or threat to his own life as there was no evidence that the deceased was armed” remarked Judge Elmarie van der Schyff.

Though the court was of the view that a non-custodial sentence was unwarranted, it also held a view that a long sentence would also not be appropriate as court decisions must also have an element of mercy, Mjonondwane said.

“The court ruled that, under the circumstances, a sentence of eight (8) years imprisonment, wholly suspended for 5 years on condition that, the respondent is not convicted of a crime of murder, is an appropriate sentence.

“The NPA welcomes the court's decision,” Mjonondwane added.