“I can sleep peacefully knowing that my racist abusers are finally behind bars and paying for the cruel and horrific things they put me through in the three years I worked for them.”
These are the words of Joseph Mona (40), the man who was forced to consume human faeces, forced inside a manhole and left to die in December 2016.
This was after Joseph failed to switch off the engine of a septic tank pump at a farm in Endicott, where he was a general worker.
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His abusers, farmer Harry Leicester (57), his wife Maryna (53) and his son Chris (31), were each sentenced to 12 years’ imprisonment by the Springs Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
They were found guilty and sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment on charges of attempted murder and two years for crimen injuria.
The sentence is set to be served concurrently.
During the sentencing, magistrate Khensani Moila said in the medical report submitted to the court, Joseph is still traumatised from the incident.
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“The doctor reported that he could have died from being inside the septic tank. There were still visible bite marks on his skin from the worms six months after the incident.
“What the victim went through is inhumane and cruel. Throughout the case, the family maintained that they were innocent and showed no remorse,” she said.
Mona said: “I was often beaten up and called names, especially the ‘K word’ when my employers were not happy with my work.”
The family is set to apply for an appeal on March 26.
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