Three life sentences for Phoenix triple murderer must be 'deterrent', says NPA

The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) wants the three life sentences imposed on Collin Pillay on Friday - convicted of the murders of his married lover and her two daughters - to serve as a "deterrent" for crimes against women and children.

Collin Pillay was also slapped with a three-year sentence for theft related to the same matter by Durban high court judge Philip Nkosi on Friday.

The NPA’s KZN spokesperson Natasha Kara told TimesLIVE: "We welcome the conviction and sentence. We hope that it will have the necessary deterrent effect on the scourge of attacks on women and children."

Before handing down sentence, Nkosi described Pillay as "cruel, with a total disregard for life".

Pillay’s sentencing came a day after Nkosi found Pillay guilty of the murders of  Jane Govindsamy and her daughters, Denisha, 22, and Rackelle, 16, at their Phoenix flat in September last year.

Nkosi said Pillay displayed "hard heartedness in the most brutal manner one could ever imagine".

The state alleged that Pillay killed Govindsamy because he believed she was seeing someone else.

He was in a relationship with the married mother of two for nine years before it soured in September 2018.

Shortly before his conviction on Thursday, Pillay walked up the stairs from the grill, unzipped his pants and exposed himself to TimesLIVE photographer Sandile Ndlovu, saying he should take a picture of his penis instead of his face.

He then zipped his pants and sat down on the stairs before covering his head with his jacket while waiting for the case to proceed.

Sagren Govindsamy, Jane’s husband and father of her two daughters, told TimesLIVE on Thursday that he may now finally move ahead with his life.

"I’m not relieved, because my family can never be brought back, but I wanted justice for them," he said.