S v Maria Petronella Scheepers

From: The Registrar, Supreme Court of Appeal

Date: Thursday 10 November 2005

Status: Immediate

Please note that the media summary is intended for the benefit of the media and does not form part of the judgment of the Supreme Court of Appeal

S v Maria Petronella Scheepers 055/2005

In a judgment delivered today, the Supreme Court of Appeal has upheld an appeal by a woman sentenced to three years’ imprisonment for two thefts involving amounts of R130 and R1000. The larger amount was repaid, and neither complainant suffered any loss, but the magistrate imposed three years’ imprisonment because the thefts were committed shortly after the appellant had been given a four-year suspended sentence for fraud. The Pretoria High Court dismissed her appeal, but the SCA intervened, holding that the three-year sentence of effective imprisonment was shockingly inappropriate and that the lower courts had failed to consider the precise advantages of a provision in the Criminal Procedure Act 51 of 1977 (s 276(1)(i)) which permits a sentence of imprisonment to be converted into correctional supervision after at least one-sixth has been served.

The SCA also considered that the cumulative effect of the two sentences was unduly harsh, and reduced the effective sentence to one of two years.

In the result, after the appellant has served four months of the two-year sentence, the Commissioner of Correctional Services or a parole board will have power to release her on correctional supervision.