After stealing nearly R90 000 from his previous employer in the space of two months, a Grahamstown man has not been sentenced to jail time, but instead will spend three years under house arrest.
After stealing nearly R90 000 from his previous employer in the space of two months, a Grahamstown man has not been sentenced to jail time, but instead will spend three years under house arrest.
He was found guilty on 31 counts of theft in the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court on Tuesday. Craig Richardson, 30, was arrested in late 2009 after he stole R88 830 from his employer, the Slipstream Sports Bar and casino in New Street.
Between 17 September and 20 November in 2009 Richardson was employed there as a manager when he started taking money during shifts, while giving the casino cashier cash slips with incorrect figures for the shift's takings.
On Tuesday, Magistrate Thembela Mata sentenced Richardson to three years living under house arrest, not including the hours that he spends at work, church, or in hospital – provided there is written proof. He may not use alcohol or take drugs unless they are administered by a doctor. He was further ordered to perform 16 hours of community service, and pay R1 000 a month to his ex-employer, Leon Bezuidenhout.
“The first payment is at the end of this month until the full amount is paid,” said Mata. “This is not a sentence everybody wants, but the community will benefit and the complainant will be compensated,” he said before handing down his sentence.
He further said that seeing as Bezuidenhout is a tax payer, and a certain amount of that tax goes to the Department of Correctional Services – which will be used to feed the person who has wronged him – it wouldn't make sense to send him to prison.
Bezuidenhout wasn't happy with the sentence, and outside of court he told Grocott's Mail that he felt justice had not been done. “Criminals like this should be taken out of the streets so they cannot do the same to other people,” he said.
Despite Richardson not receiving jail time for his crimes, the magistrate warned him not to take his sentence lightly. “Should you fail to pay, the court will re-enrol the case for the consideration of a different sentence, which could be a direct term of imprisonment,” Mata said.
