SERIAL rapist Thokozani Jerome Mkhungo tried to make a run for it on Tuesday after the Ramstage High Court sentenced him to 119 years in jail.
He was being led out of the court when he tried to escape, but an alert security guard managed to stop him.
Mkhungo (34), of Gcilima, Margate, was handed two life sentences for two counts of rape, three years’ imprisonment for three charges of housebreaking with intent to rape, 15 years’ imprisonment for three charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and 15 years for one count of rape.
Acting Judge Kobus van Rooyen said that he found it a worrying factor that these were ‘carbon copy crimes’. He added that the evidence against Mkhungo was overwhelming and that he had shown no remorse throughout the trial. “Rape is a crime in this country committed with so much regularity.”
He added that both women lived alone and that they should have the reassurance that they could do so if they wished without the risk of being raped.
Warrant Officer Mfanafuthi ‘Pro’ Ngubane, from Ugu’s Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS), welcomed the sentence.
“I am happy, as our forensic laboratory started this project of reviving old cases, which resulted in all provinces establishing task teams to investigate all DNA linked to serial cases. Our project started in April 2015,” he said.
* The Umtentweni businessman who is facing six charges, ranging from rape and the possession and making of child pornography to the grooming of a child for pornography, appeared in the Port Shepstone Magistrate’s Court again last Wednesday.
There it emerged that there were two reports issued by psychiatrists on the man’s mental state, but that these offered conflicting opinions.
The case was transferred to the Port Shepstone Regional Court, where the accused appeared on Tuesday this week. During his appearance it was established that the prosecutor had misinterpreted the legislation and that three psychiatrist reports were in fact acquired.
The case was postponed to later this month, while the accused will be readmitted to Fort Napier Hospital for further observation.
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