Convicted child rapist Nicholas Ninow has told the Pretoria High Court that he would like to be given a chance to work towards leading a better life. Ninow has delivered an emotional testimony at the court, providing his version of events that led to him raping a seven-year old girl in a toilet cubicle at a Dros Restaurant in Pretoria.
The court began with pre-sentencing proceedings on Wednesday after rejecting his version that he acted impulsively when he raped the child.
His legal team will have to prove substantial and compelling circumstances on why the court should deviate from the prescribed minimum sentence of life in prison.
Ninow says spending the rest of his life in prison will not allow him to fix things with his grandmother and raise his son.
“There is a difference between knowing you have a second chance in life and knowing your life is over. At the end of the day, I am stuck between two minds; am I going to spend the rest of my life in prison and not have an opportunity to fix things with my grandmother? I am not going to be able to raise my son. There is no point to life to me then. But at the end of the day, if there is something to work towards, it is like a degree, like studying; if you are going to work for no money then there is nothing. But if you are going to work for something then there is motivation. In my life, there is nothing left at this stage. I feel like there is nothing and that is why some days I give up, but there are other days I feel like there is still hope.”
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