Windhoek
Judge Christi Liebenberg yesterday sentenced a Rehoboth resident to 40 years in prison for the fatal stabbing of another man at a shebeen in the town’s Block E residential area on February 7, 2014.
He convicted Bryan Rickerts, 37, of murder with direct intent last week. Rickerts who appeared in court wearing a face mask, as he is suffering from a contagious form of tuberculosis, sat listening impassively as Judge Liebenberg read the judgment.
According to the judge, Rickerts has shown no remorse for the crime he is convicted of. He said what lies at the heart of real contrition is that there is a likelihood that an offender, who really repents, will not re-offend.
“Absent remorse and, given the accused’s criminal history, there is no sign of him having reformed. Neither is there any prospect of that happening in the future.”
Rickerts has two previous convictions for violent crimes involving knives. According to the judge, while it is true that Rickerts had been punished for his past crimes he did not learn from them.
“The significance of the previous convictions in this instance is that it shows that the accused in the past had made himself guilty of a similar offence (murder), for which he was sentenced to a custodial sentence.
“Further, that the sentence so imposed seemed to have no deterrent effect on the accused, as he (seemingly shortly after his discharge) again made himself guilty of assault by stabbing the victim with a knife in the neck,” the judge reiterated.
“This tends to show that the accused has a propensity to commit violent crimes, coupled with the use of dangerous weapons,” Justice Liebenberg stated.
According to him, it is unavoidable to come to the conclusion that Rickerts is of bad character, a person who has no or little respect for life or limb, who has learned nothing from the mistakes of the past, which makes him less susceptible to rehabilitation.
He said murder is one of the most serious crimes that can be committed and the sanctity of life is enshrined in the Constitution.
According to the judge, it is even more so where the killing was unprovoked and directed at an unarmed person, suddenly and unexpected being attacked and stabbed with a knife for no reason – a senseless killing.
“He has taken two lives too many and must be stopped,” Judge Liebenberg further stressed. As such, the judge said, a lengthy custodial sentence is unavoidable.