The daughter of Brits grandfather Patrick Jewell feels failed by the justice system and is shocked and disappointed at what she deems the lenient sentence imposed on the teenager who killed her father after he took his father’s car without permission.
This week, nearly three years after the deadly crash, the Brits Magistrate Court sentenced Kgaugelo Masenya, 19, to three years' correctional supervision, of which all three years he will be under house arrest.
He must also perform 176 hours a month of community service at the Polokwane Provincial Hospital.
Jewell, 65, died after Masenya stole his father’s car for a joyride with his friends. On that fateful day, Jewell was on the pavement outside his house loading water bottles into his Hyundai i10 in order to water the flowers at his wife’s gravesite.
Surveillance footage shows a white BMW X5 speeding around a corner, losing control and colliding with the small car where Jewell was standing. Jewell was critically injured and transported to hospital where he died 20 days later.
Within two months of the collision, Jackie Jewell had obtained the surveillance footage of the crash as well as the contact details of the person whose footage it was. This was provided to the investigating officer.
Six months later, he had still not obtained the video footage. Further, the investigating officer had not collected an affidavit from an eyewitness, which was drafted six weeks after the incident.
AfriForum said the case would not have progressed this far if its Private Prosecution Unit, which represents Jewell’s daughter Jacky, had not intervened to ensure that it was thoroughly investigated and enrolled for trial.
The teenage driver’s father is a captain in the police’s VIP Protection Unit. It was suspected that the failure to investigate the case was the result of police officers covering for one of their colleagues.
In May, Masenya pleaded guilty to culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving for causing the car crash that led to the elderly man’s death following the accident on September 21, 2021.
Magistrate Elna Moolman said while she considered the crime very serious, she was mindful that Masenya was 16 years old at the time. “A life was lost because of what you did. I cannot ignore what his family and specifically his daughter has gone through. I hope the family finds solace at the loss of a loved one in the sentence imposed,” she said.
Jacky, meanwhile, said the three-year sentence does not befit the crime. “But eventually, after three years, he received his sentence.” Barry Bateman, spokesperson for the unit, said delays in finalising cases prolong the trauma experienced by victims and loved ones.
“The delay in finalising the case also impacts the accused, and we support Jacky’s hope that the sentence serves as a lesson to Masenya, and that he grows up to be a role model for others,” Bateman said.
Pretoria News