Fast-track justice in tourist robbery case

A GROOTFONTEIN resident who was arrested last week for stealing items worth more than N$18 000 from two Danish tourists received swift retribution on Friday.

In a high-tech twist to the trial, video footage was submitted showing Immanuel, who denied the charge, caught on camera while committing the crime. The footage – from a security camera at the service station – showed him reaching into the two travellers’ vehicle and taking out a bag, which he hid under his shirt before walking off.At the time, Danish traveller Marck Lauritsen and his girlfriend, Lene Andersen, were on the other side of the vehicle, filling up jerry cans with petrol.Lukas Immanuel (36) was convicted of theft out of a motor vehicle and sentenced to an effective four years’ imprisonment when his case was fast-tracked through the Grootfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday morning.Magistrate André le Roux hit Immanuel with a stiff prison term after he heard that Immanuel had been convicted of a similar crime previously.For that earlier conviction in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court in 2002, Immanuel was let off with a fine of N$1 500 or 12 months’ imprisonment.Immanuel did not get off so lightly last week when he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, of which one year was suspended for five years on condition he was not again found guilty of theft within the period of suspension.The Magistrate heard evidence from Lauritsen, as well as from a friend of Immanuel, Theofelus Amadhila.Amadhila told the court that Immanuel had told him last Monday that he was in possession of a camera.Lauritsen told the Magistrate that the Police recovered most of the items that had been in the camera bag, including a digital video camera and a still camera.But the couple’s Danish passports and the films that had been in the two cameras had not been recovered.The theft reflected badly on Namibia’s reputation with visitors, Magistrate Le Roux told Immanuel.He also said the suspect had shown no remorse, and that last week’s theft was a repeat of a crime that he had previously been found guilty of, showing he had not mended his ways.Unlike many tourists who fall victim to crime while visiting Namibia, Lauritsen and Andersen had enough time to remain at the town where the suspected thief was to be tried.The case was specially accommodated on the court’s roll to enable one of the couple to testify and to allow them to continue with their tour through the country.The couple became victims of the theft on only their second day in the country.They visited Namibia as part of a six-month self-drive tour through east and southern Africa.The footage – from a security camera at the service station – showed him reaching into the two travellers’ vehicle and taking out a bag, which he hid under his shirt before walking off.At the time, Danish traveller Marck Lauritsen and his girlfriend, Lene Andersen, were on the other side of the vehicle, filling up jerry cans with petrol.Lukas Immanuel (36) was convicted of theft out of a motor vehicle and sentenced to an effective four years’ imprisonment when his case was fast-tracked through the Grootfontein Magistrate’s Court on Friday morning.Magistrate André le Roux hit Immanuel with a stiff prison term after he heard that Immanuel had been convicted of a similar crime previously.For that earlier conviction in the Otjiwarongo Magistrate’s Court in 2002, Immanuel was let off with a fine of N$1 500 or 12 months’ imprisonment.Immanuel did not get off so lightly last week when he was sentenced to five years’ imprisonment, of which one year was suspended for five years on condition he was not again found guilty of theft within the period of suspension.The Magistrate heard evidence from Lauritsen, as well as from a friend of Immanuel, Theofelus Amadhila.Amadhila told the court that Immanuel had told him last Monday that he was in possession of a camera.Lauritsen told the Magistrate that the Police recovered most of the items that had been in the camera bag, including a digital video camera and a still camera.But the couple’s Danish passports and the films that had been in the two cameras had not been recovered.The theft reflected badly on Namibia’s reputation with visitors, Magistrate Le Roux told Immanuel.He also said the suspect had shown no remorse, and that last week’s theft was a repeat of a crime that he had previously been found guilty of, showing he had not mended his ways.Unlike many tourists who fall victim to crime while visiting Namibia, Lauritsen and Andersen had enough time to remain at the town where the suspected thief was to be tried.The case was specially accommodated on the court’s roll to enable one of the couple to testify and to allow them to continue with their tour through the country.The couple became victims of the theft on only their second day in the country.They visited Namibia as part of a six-month self-drive tour through east and southern Africa.