A Pretoria High Court judge on Friday told a self-confessed male prostitute and killer that it is up to him to rehabilitate himself, before jailing him for 14 years.
Acting Judge Kobus van Rooyen sentenced Charles Peter Barker, who used the name Dawid Swanepoel on the streets, to direct imprisonment for the March 2004 murder and robbery of part-time high-school opera teacher Allen Sim.
Van Rooyen ordered that prison authorities must provide Barker with weekly personal sessions with a psychologist or social worker and ensure that he has at least one personal monthly session of at least an hour with a psychiatrist, paid for by the state.
The judge said he would personally phone the head of the Weskoppies psychiatric hospital and ask him to consider taking Barker in for a month as soon as possible ”to stabilise his personality problems and prepare him for future treatment”.
Van Rooyen said although the order was unusual, he felt it was absolutely necessary to promote Barker’s rehabilitation and to ensure the safety of the public and other inmates.
Barker has a long history of anti-social and violent behaviour.
Sim died after Barker, in a frenzy of anger, stabbed him 27 times. Sim had refused to give him money ”for services rendered”.
His body was left in a bath filled with water before Barker and fellow accused Salmon Basson made off with a large number of goods and his car. Most of the goods were sold for drug money.
Van Rooyen said he had taken into account that Barker, who was sexually and physically abused as a child, had substantial personality and intellectual defects, was addicted to cocaine and alcohol and had shown true remorse abut his actions. It was clear that he needed urgent psychiatric help.
Barker had also already spent 18 months in jail and had suffered as a result of being assaulted and shot during his arrest.
Basson, who was convicted of theft and being an accessory to the murder, was sentenced to 12 months’ correctional supervision. He was released into the care of a family friend, who promised him a home and to help him get a job, but will have to undergo programmes for his drug addiction and life coping skills.
Basson, who has a serious drug problem and previous convictions for theft, lived under a bridge in Sunnyside when police arrested him.
Van Rooyen said Basson had been a mere flunkey to Barker and already had his punishment during his 18 months in jail pending his trial.
”I believe this has taught him a lesson. What he now needs is strict supervision and leadership,” Van Rooyen added.
As part of his sentence, Basson was forbidden to use any alcohol or drugs without a doctor’s prescription and was warned that he could be sent to jail for two years if he ignored the directive. — Sapa