Sentencing of convicted child rapist Darren Goddard adjourned

The sentencing of sexual assault and rape convict Darren Goddard had to be adjourned on Wednesday due to difficulties obtaining the transcript of the judgment.

In March, the former city school guidance counsellor was found guilty of seven out of 15 counts relating to sexual assault, rape and being in possession of child pornography.

On Wednesday, Goddard’s defence advocate, Shane Matthews, told the court he had not managed to obtain the transcribed judgment, despite multiple ongoing communications with the court’s contracted transcription service since March.

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Matthews said he had exchanged numerous e-mail and telephone communications with Gauteng Transcribers, the company that recently took over the court’s transcribing tender.

The fault appears to lie with the Pietermaritzburg high court’s office, which has failed to process Gauteng Transcriber’s request to obtain the recording of Pillay’s judgment.

Matthews said he physically visited and spoke to the person in charge of the transcribing in the court, and on the last visit, was told that she was processing the request.

However, on July 12, Gauteng Transcribers still had not received the recording.

A visibly frustrated Judge Kate Pillay attempted to get the person responsible for processing transcribing requests to the stand, however, he or she was on leave.

Pillay then summoned the employee’s supervisor to the stand, who said the court had been experiencing difficulty in obtaining transcripts recorded in certain court rooms due to a technical fault, and the matter has been escalated to the national office.

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Pillay said she has experienced this problem in another matter and hopes the same issue doesn’t apply to Goddard’s judgment, especially as the judgment was delivered extemporary (spoken).

I am really worried now. This matter is urgent because it’s a criminal case, not a civil matter and the accused is on bail. The matter needs finality urgently.

She blamed a “lackadaisical approach to work”, and demanded the transcript be made available by August 8, the new date set for sentencing.

If we can’t get this recording [by then] I want whoever is dealing with this matter to be subpoenaed and come to explain to the court what the problem is.

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The judge apologised for the state of affairs.

In May, The Witness ran an article highlighting concerns over notorious criminals going free after certain audio recordings between 2016 and 2020 from three Pietermaritzburg high court rooms were nowhere to be found.

It was established that three recorders from B, D and F courts were removed to be repaired. However, when returned to the courts, the information recorded on them was no longer on the system.

At this stage, it is unclear whether Goddard’s judgment is one of these.

The matter has been adjourned until August 8 for sentencing.

Originally published on The Witness.