The South African High Court, Northern Cape Division, sitting in Kimberley has sentenced Aldean Wilkinson (31), to 20 years of direct imprisonment, for the murder of his pregnant girlfriend. The accused was sentenced after he pleaded guilty to killing his girlfriend and the mother of his two children.
On 15 May 2022, the Police were called to the home of the victim, and when they arrived, they found the body of the deceased with stab wounds. The accused was arrested on 16 May 2022, after he handed himself to the police. During his bail application, the accused made a plea for bail, but the Prosecution and SAPS successfully opposed it on 13 June 2022, at the Kimberley District Court.
The police had reservations about the court granting the accused bail, the main reason being that the accused may interfere with witnesses, as some are known to him. The Prosecutor opposed bail, given the seriousness of the charges against the accused, and as it was in the best interest of justice for requesting the court not grant him bail.
The matter was transferred to the High Court on 29 August 2022, he faced a charge of murder. During his sentencing, the Acting Judge indicated that the prescribed sentence for such an offence was 15 years, but the court believed that the 20 years of direct imprisonment was in the best interest of Justice.
The court told the accused, that it was his responsibility to protect his pregnant girlfriend and the mother of his two children, which he failed to do. That the victim was killed in a place, where she was supposed to feel safe and that the two children will now have to be raised by other family members. During sentencing, the accused was also declared unfit to possess a firearm. He will commence his sentence immediately.
