The Waterkloof Four will know on January 30 if they will go to jail for the murder of an unknown man and the assault of another.
On Friday magistrate Len Kotze heard final arguments from the defence and in the case of Christoff Becker, Frikkie du Preez, Gert van Schalkwyk and Reinach Tiedt.
The state argued that due to the serious nature of the crime the court had no choice but to jail the four. Advocate Johan Kruger SC asked for a sentence of between 10 to 12 years.
He handed to the court an 86-page report on sentences in similar cases. The youths involved in those cases were sentenced to, on average, 12 years in prison.
Advocate Jaap Celliers SC and defence lawyer Oeloff de Meyer told the court that their four clients were not prison material and that they were essentially good people who posed no threat to society.
”They were at the wrong place at the wrong time and confronted the wrong people and that was what happened,” De Meyer told the court.
Kotze said he would consider the fact that they probably did not want to kill the man, but they could have foreseen that he would have died due to their actions.
He said he would pass sentence on January 30. — Sapa