The Cape Town High Court heard on Thursday that eight members of the Fancy Boys gang should be given sentences that reflected how seriously society condemns organised crime.
Pedro van Wyk said there should be serious consequences for the gang members as people who ”made a living out of crime”.
He was prosecuting in the trial that is believed to be the first to see a conviction for membership of a criminal gang under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act.
Van Wyk asked that gang leader Shamiel Eyssen be given an effective 25 years and that another of those convicted, Gerhard Riley, serve one to two years.
Some of the other six who were convicted have already spent three or four years in prison, awaiting trial. Van Wyk said this jail time should be noted when determining sentence.
Earlier, defence lawyers for three of the eight wrapped up their arguments in mitigation of sentence.
Paul van Zyl, acting for Munier Effendi, whom the state has asked to be sentenced to an effective 20 years, said his client is a reformed man since turning to religion. He asked Judge Anton Veldhuizen for his client’s sentence ”not be too long that he becomes despondent and reverts back to a criminal lifestyle”.
The gang’s crime spree, which mainly targeted homes in upmarket Cape Town suburbs, including Camps Bay and Constantia, lasted from November 2001 to December 2003 and brought in about R10-million. In many cases, the gangsters gained entry through open doors and windows, and then terrorised occupants at gunpoint.
One of the cornerstones of the state’s case against them was the evidence of an accomplice, Mishal Donough.
Initially, 18 accused were indicted on 76 counts, but only eight were convicted. The so-called ”kingpin”, Shamiel Eyssen, has also been convicted of racketeering.
Other offences of which individuals among the eight have been found guilty are robbery, housebreaking, unlawful possession of firearms and possession of stolen property.
Veldhuizen postponed the hearing to May 8. — Sapa