Murder convictions of crash driver to remain standing

The precedent-setting murder convictions and sentence of a driver who was involved in a fatal road collision near Henties Bay at the end of 2014 will remain in place, after the Supreme Court decided not to hear an appeal on the matter.

In an order issued by the Supreme Court last week, deputy chief justice Petrus Damaseb and acting judges of appeal Dave Smuts and Theo Frank refused a petition in which the driver Jandré Dippenaar asked the court to allow him to appeal against his convictions and sentence.

A first appeal by Dippenaar (43) against his convictions and sentences was dismissed in the High Court in December last year.

Dippenaar was sentenced to an affective prison term of 15 years on six counts of murder at the end of his trial in the Swakopmund Regional Court in August 2024.