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A young couple convicted of murdering their two month old baby have been jailed in the Pretoria High Court.
Marissa Rudman was sentenced today to 10 years in jail while her partner, Nolan Schoeman got 13 years.
The state had called for life imprisonment for the death of their baby, Wade, who died of massive head and other injuries in April 2009.
Judge Cynthia Pretorius ordered that the two years Schoeman had already spent in jail should be taken into account when calculating his release date.
The judge found there were substantial and compelling circumstances to justify a lesser sentence, despite the horrendous
manner in which the couple had tortured and killed their baby.
A pathologist testified during the trial that she had never seen a baby with such severe injuries. Baby Wade's brain injuries were so extensive that the swelling pushed his skull apart.
He had lung contusions caused by a hard blow to the body,unusual injuries to both feet, finger marks, bruises to his face
and body, two broken forearms, and 22 broken ribs.
Pretorius said Schoeman and Rudman had been severely abused as children themselves and had also abused drugs.
Pretorius said she did not believe that either of the two was remorseful, although they now seemed to realise the enormity of their baby's death.
Rudman had lived with Schoeman, who she knew had killed her baby, for two years after their arrest, and only broke up with him when he was re-arrested.
It was doubtful if Rudman was a battered woman, as she had frequently chased Schoeman away, but always took him back, said Pretorius.
The Child Abuse Action Group's Lucy Redivo reacted with outrage
at the sentence.
