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Judgement reserved in McLaggan rape conviction appeal


Grahamstown High Court judge, Glen Goosen, has reserved judgement in an application by Port Elizabeth singer, Ian Mclaggan, against his rape conviction.

State advocate, Nicky Turner, also lodged an application appealing against the leniency of the sentence imposed on McLaggan on Friday by judge Goosen.

He found that there were mitigating factors that prohibited him from imposing the minimum statutory sentence of 10 years.

Judge Goosen subsequently sentenced McLaggan to eight years behind bars for raping a British teenager at Shamwari Game Reserve in 2010.

McLaggan will also remain in custody pending the finalisation of the appeal process.

In his nine page judgement judge Goosen said that "the crime of rape is all too prevalent in our society. It has rightly been described as a scourge and as a cancer which has infested our society and which is destructive of the very values upon which our society is founded."

"It is by its nature a violent crime which causes long-term trauma and suffering for the victim. It is a crime which is rightly regarded as abhorrent and meriting the imposition of severe penalties upon the perpetrators," he said in his nine page judgement.

In considering mitigating factors, judge Goosen said that "in this matter the accused is demonstrably a person with the capacity to contribute valuably and positively to society and one who until now has displayed qualities which do him great credit as a person. Substantive weight must be given to these."

He added that "although the circumstances in which the offence was committed rightly evoke feelings of disgust, the reprehensible conduct does not indicate that the accused is a particular danger to society in the sense that it indicates a propensity for conduct of this nature."

"In my view these mitigating factors when weighed cumulatively, compel me to conclude that a sentence of 10 years' imprisonment is disproportionate and would bring about an injustice," said Goosen.

He said the accused was entitled to a measure of mercy and the imposition of the minimum sentence upon him "would be unduly destructive of him and it would, in my view, not serve the overriding interest that society has in seeking to correct aberrant behaviour and to rehabilitate offenders back into the society."

"The accused must undoubtedly be made to suffer the consequences of his criminal conduct. That requires that he should serve a period of imprisonment which will drive home to him the realisation that he has profoundly failed himself, his family and his community and that he has squandered a promising future."

"It must drive home to him also the fact that he has devastated the life of another by inflicting upon her a trauma that will remain with her throughout her life. It is to be hoped that his punishment will teach him that dignity, safety, privacy and freedom are values, the breach of which society will not tolerate," he concluded.