The uncle of Chanelle McCrawl has refused to accept a life sentence for the rape and murder of the 10-year-old Manenberg girl.
Court proceedings in the trial of Carlo de Kock came to a grinding halt again at the Cape High Court on Monday when it was revealed that the accused intended on pleading guilty but did not agree to the life sentence.
On 19 October 2017, the girl was reported missing when she failed to arrive at school.
The next day her body was found wrapped in a curtain and placed in a shopping bag at a river near her Audrey Court home.
De Kock and neighbour, Stanton Mano, were arrested.
The State later dropped the charges against Mano while DNA evidence allegedly linked De Kock to semen found on Chanelle’s school pants.
Last week the court heard the accused was considering a plea agreement.
LIFE CUT SHORT: Chanelle McCrawl
On Monday, State prosecutor Marize Engelbrecht told presiding Judge Yahya John Hlophe that they had only a partial agreement because they did not agree on the sentence.
Hlophe advised: “He has been in custody for two years and that will be taken into account. Pleading guilty, in prison for two years, first offender, those three facts immediately in my view would warrant some departure from the prescribed minimum sentence.”
He postponed the case to 20 March for the plea deal to be finalised.
Outside court, Chanelle’s ouma, Gertrude Basson, said she was moeg of all the delays.
“I am just gatvol of coming every time and there is no outcome. He wants the court to consider that he has already been in prison but what about other cases where people get life even though they are in prison?” the granny said.