Will Henri van Breda appeal guilty verdict? Too early to tell‚ says attorney

It is unclear whether Henri van Breda will appeal against the guilty verdict delivered by Judge Siraj Desai in the Cape Town High Court on Monday.

The 23-year-old was found guilty of the murder of his mother Teresa‚ father Martin and brother Rudi. In addition‚ he was found guilty of the attempted murder of his sister‚ Marli‚ now 19‚ and defeating the ends of justice.

Desai read only a summary of the judgment in court. Van Breda’s attorney‚ Lorinda van Niekerk‚ said on Tuesday she had not yet received the summary or the full judgment.

“I can’t say if we are going to appeal. We still have to wait to get the judgment. We must study the verdict and then we still have the sentencing procedures‚” said Van Niekerk.

Asked how Van Breda was after his first night in custody‚ Van Niekerk said the last time she saw her client was at court on Monday.

“I don’t know [how he is]. He is currently in police cells‚” she said.

Criminal defence lawyer William Booth said Van Breda was likely to spend many years behind bars.

“In terms of the minimum sentencing laws this is premeditated murder‚ so the potential sentence is life imprisonment unless an accused can submit substantial and compelling factors to persuade the court to impose a lesser sentence‚” he said.

“However‚ it is going to be quite a considerable job to get Henri anything less than life because we are talking about three murders…Then you’ve got the attempted murder‚ which is a serious one‚ as well as defeating the ends of justice. Direct imprisonment for those offences could also be imposed.”