Pretoria - The lover of murdered Eersterust resident Evelyn de Kock, Clayton Andrews, who stabbed her in a fit of rage, apologised to her family and the community and said he had no idea what came over him.
“I took away someone you love who is a very precious person. Evelyn was a joyful, warm person. What I did to her was very unfortunate to her and her family. I had no right to decide who should live or not,” Andrews said in a letter presented to the court by his lawyer.
He was sentenced on Friday to 15 years imprisonment in the Gauteng High Court, Pretoria for De Kock’s murder.
Andrews repeatedly said he was sorry in the letter and stated that he knew he did not deserve forgiveness. He, however, asked God to “bless him and the family.”
Andrews pleaded guilty last week to murdering De Kock in the Eersterust home which they shared at the time.
He told the court that what he had done was wrong, but he lost his temper after the pair of them argued about money and about each other’s drinking habits. The last straw was when she insulted his private parts and tried to grab him by his clothes.
According to him both of them were under the influence of alcohol. De Kock died somewhere between June 13 or 14 last year, after she climbed into bed next to Andrews after she was repeatedly stabbed.
Andrews said he only realised the next morning that she had died next to him sometime during the night. He said in his explanation of plea that he was drinking with friends two streets down from where he and De Kock lived.
He went home early that night and found her and her sister drinking in the kitchen. He joined them and had more to drink, before they headed for the bedroom.
Andrews said De Kock was sitting on the bed, while he was making himself a sandwich. He said they argued about money and she shouted at him about his drinking habits.
“She grabbed a nearby bottle and wanted to hit me with it. I grabbed the bottle from her and put it in the cupboard. She swore at me and insulted my private parts, before she grabbed me by my clothes.”
Andrews said he had the knife in his hands at the time he was making a sandwich and before he knew it, he was repeatedly stabbing her.
“I stabbed her with the knife. I don’t know how many times I stabbed before I stopped. I was very angry. She told me to leave her alone and she pulled the duvet over herself. I slept next to her and noticed the next morning when I woke up, that she was dead.”
Members of the community last week packed the public gallery, sporting yellow T-Shirts with the name of De Kock on. They wanted answers as to what actually happened that night. Acting Judge Moeder Leso commented during sentencing that Andrews claimed that he loved De Kock, yet he brutally stabbed her to death.
“I cannot imagine what she must have gone through,” the judge said.
She added that violence perpetrated on women had become the norm and said the courts needed to send a clear message that this type of conduct would not be tolerated.
The judge said the presence of the community in court showed how tired they were of gender-based violence.
De Kock’s sister and mother after sentencing said they had made their peace with what happened. “Now the healing process can finally begin,” Peters said.
Virginia Keppler of the Patriotic Alliance, who was also in court, said the community had had enough of gender-based violence. She expressed hope that this sentence would send a clear message that those who chose this path, would feel the full brunt of the law.
Pretoria News