ConCourt dismisses Panayiotou’s bid to appeal conviction

Convicted wife murderer Christopher Panayiotou has lost his Constitutional Court bid to have his conviction overturned.

The apex court dismissed his application for leave to appeal, saying that there was no reasonable prospect of success on appeal, according to the Herald.

The publication reported that the court, which made the order available on Thursday, also refused his application for condonation, which was related to the delay in lodging. The court reportedly found that there was no “acceptable explanation” for the delay.

Panayiotou orchestrated the murder of his wife, Jayde Panayiotou, in 2015, hiring Sinethemba Nenembe and Zolani Sibeko to kill her, News24 previously reported. Jayde’s body was found in an open field near Uitenhage on April 22, 2015. She had been shot three times.

In November 2017, after he was found guilty, Panayiotou was sentenced to life imprisonment for murder. Sibeko, who was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder, was sentenced to 15 years and Nenembe was sentenced to life for murder and an additional 15 years for robbery.

Since his sentencing, Panayiotou has desperately tried to appeal but had no luck after the Eastern Cape High Court in Port Elizabeth denied him leave to appeal,  News24 previously reported.

When he approached the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) directly for leave to appeal, he was also unsuccessful. The SCA believed that an appeal would have no reasonable chance of success.

Panayiotou then turned to the Constitutional Court.

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