A driver found guilty on six counts of murder in connection with a fatal road collision near Henties Bay in December 2014 has failed with an appeal against his conviction and sentence.
The appeal of the driver, Jandré Dippenaar (42), was dismissed in the Windhoek High Court on Friday.
Dippenaar was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment on six counts of murder at the end of his trial in the Swakopmund Regional Court in August last year.
Dippenaar’s case was the first in Namibia’s legal history in which a road accident led to a conviction on murder charges, rather than a count of culpable homicide.
Dippenaar was the driver of a vehicle that was involved in a horror collision near Henties Bay on 29 December 2014.
The collision claimed the lives of three members of a German family that was visiting Namibia. Three people who were passengers in the vehicle driven by Dippenaar were also killed.
Dippenaar denied guilt during his trial, which started in January 2017, but was eventually found guilty on six counts of murder and charges of reckless driving and driving without a valid licence.
Magistrate Gaynor Poulton, who convicted Dippenaar, concluded he had overtaken vehicles at high speed on a blind rise on the road between Swakopmund and Henties Bay, in a manoeuvre that led to a head-on collision with another vehicle, in which four members of a German family were travelling.
Dippenaar’s version during his trial was that he had no recollection of the collision or events immediately before the crash.
In the High Court’s appeal judgement, judge Naomi Shivute said it was evident that Dippenaar had been driving in a dangerous manner before the crash took place.
Noting that Dippenaar was a champion rally driver, Shivute said it must have been obvious to him that overtaking a vehicle over a blind rise in the face of oncoming traffic could have deadly results.
“The evidence showed that the way he drove that day alarmed other road users to the point that they felt compelled to report him to the police,” Shivute recounted.
“Even after being warned to drive responsibly, [Dippenaar] did not stop. He foresaw the consequences of his dangerous driving, factored them into the bargain, and proceeded regardless.”
The trial magistrate’s finding that Dippenaar was guilty of murder, committed without a direct intention to kill, was an appropriate verdict, Shivute said, with judge Dinnah Usiku agreeing with her judgement.
Shivute also said: “The present case goes beyond culpable homicide. The appellant [Dippenaar] was not merely negligent or reckless, but went beyond that.”
Poulton did not misdirect herself when she decided on a sentence to hand to Dippenaar, Shivute said as well.
She remarked: “The overall sentence imposed by the court is not inappropriate and does not induce a sense of shock. The appeal must therefore fail.”
Legal counsel Albert Strydom, instructed by Petrie Theron, represented Dippenaar in the appeal.
State advocate Ethel Ndlovu represented the state.
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