‘I didn’t care about anything’ when I raped the seven-year-old girl – Nicholas Ninow

Testifying in mitigation of his sentence on Wednesday, convicted rapist Nicholas Ninow said he did not care about the consequences of his actions when he raped a seven-year-old girl in the bathrooms of a toilet at the Dros restaurant in Silverton, Pretoria.

At his sentencing at the North Gauteng High Court, Ninow said the drugs made him “angry and full of hatred” and that he was acting on impulse alone.

“Sober-minded, I would never have done such a thing, not to anyone, never mind a little child. I could not get physical with anyone sober, I am not violent,” he told the court.

He added that his grandmother would attest to his assertion that he was a “different person” when high.

Ninow said he had used crystal meth and khat on the day of the incident, and skipped work to go to the restaurant’s bar, where he ordered alcohol.

He had disappeared from work two days before to go on a drug binge and had meant to go there on the day of the rape to fix the situation and speak to his manager, he said.

The rapist broke down crying in court, saying that what he did “breaks him” daily and that he struggled to live with what he had done.

He disputed the court’s finding that the rape was premeditated and that he planned to move to the children’s area at the restaurant, saying he did so impulsively.

After a week-long trial in September this year, Judge Mokhine Mosopa found Ninow guilty of rape, possession of an illegal substance and defeating the ends of justice.

Once Ninow is sentenced, the department will also work out a sentencing plan which will determine an appropriate place for him to serve his sentence.

The sentencing continues.

(Compiled by Daniel Friedman. Background reporting, News24 Wire.)

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