Sentence reduced in Simeon manslaughter case |21 May 2005

Simeon was convicted for the deaths of his mother and girlfriend, both of whom were killed by stabbing.

Court of Appeal President Michael Ramodibedi, sitting with Justice of Appeal Jacques Hodoul Friday, dismissed Simeon’s appeal against conviction, holding that he was properly convicted of the offences with which he was charged.

But the court held that the concurrent sentence of 20 years imprisonment imposed by the trial court was excessive, and “that where a subsequent retrial leads to a conviction, then the convict should not be given a higher sentence than the one meted out in the first trial.”

Simeon was previously acquitted on two counts of murder in a trial by jury but was convicted by the Supreme Court on two counts of manslaughter and sentenced to 15 years of imprisonment. The Court of Appeal ordered a re-trial in 2002, but he was later convicted again and received a 20-year sentence instead.

This latest appeal will reduce the sentence to one 10-year term for each count against him, to run concurrently.
Legal experts indicated that with remission, combined with the time he has already served, Simeon is likely to serve slightly less than two more years in prison under the new sentence.