NPA wants long-term sentence for Zephany Nurse kidnapper
The state will ask the court to mete out a long-term sentence for the woman convicted of kidnapping baby Zephany Nurse, the National Prosecuting Authority said yesterday.
Spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, said while Judge John Hlophe in the Western Cape High Court had indicated a sentence of 10 years imprisonment, the NPA hoped for a longer term as the woman was convicted on three serious counts.
Hlophe found the 51-year-old woman guilty of kidnapping, fraud and contravening the Children’s Act.
The judge referred to the testimony of the accused, who is from Lavender Hill, as lies, and that her version of events was a “fairytale”.
“Understandably the judge was tough. We need to consider the many lives affected by this. Not only the accused, but the child, the accused’s husband, and the family of [Zephany]," said Ntabazalila.
“The judgment was in the interest of justice and the child. If you look at what the child has gone through, I am sure no one would want to live that type of life. Anyone who commits crime must pay for that crime.”
Hlophe, delivering his verdict, said there was overwhelming evidence that the woman, who had suffered a miscarriage four months before the kidnapping, snatched the infant while her mother slept in the maternity ward of Groote Schuur Hospital on April 30 1997.
She registered Zephany as her biological child at the Malmesbury home affairs office, and lied to both her husband and the girl that she had given birth to her.
Sentencing will take place on May 30.
(File photo: Gallo Images)