Western Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai took less than five minutes to refuse Henri van Breda’s application for leave to appeal his conviction and sentence on Monday.
Desai presided over the trial and in May convicted Van Breda, 23, of the 2015 triple axe murders of his parents and brother, the attempted murder of his sister and defeating the ends of justice.
DISMISSED: Cape High Court Judge Siraj Desai
He sentenced him to three life sentences, 145 years for attempted murder and one year for defeating the ends of justice, and ordered the sentences to run concurrently.
Last week, after hearing the defence’s arguments in their bid for an appeal, Judge Desai said one rarely gets a case against an accused as strong as this one.
“This case fits like a mosaic, pieces of a jigsaw puzzle everything fits together.”
After considering defence lawyer Piet Botha’s arguments, Desai remained adamant that no compelling reasons had been given for an appeal to be heard.
“The key pillars of the State’s case provides conclusive evidence of his guilt and are in effect unassailable,” he said.
He said a lesser sentence would not have been appropriate “in light of the heinous nature of the offences”. And there was an absence of mitigating factors other than youthfulness and a lack of previous convictions.
“Hopefully this is the last word on the case,” he said.
Botha said he will be petitioning the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein and file papers within 15 days.
If the SCA refuses the application for leave to appeal, there will be no other recourse and Van Breda will have to accept his fate.