Miguel Louw killer sentenced to 25 years
The man convicted of the murder of 10-year-old Sydenham pupil Miguel Louw has been sentenced to 25-years by the Durban High Court.
Mohamed Ebrahim was also sentenced to eight years for kidnapping and 18 months for theft on Wednesday.
The sentences will run concurrently.
Ten-year-old Miguel disappeared from outside his school in Sydenham in July 2018. His body was found several weeks later in Phoenix.
“A crime of passion” - that was one of many factors that Judge Jacqueline Henriques said she took into account before handing down the sentence.
Henriques said Ebrahim’s mature age, the lack of direct evidence and the fact that he was a first-time offender were also taken into consideration.
The judge said it was made known that Miguel was killed in a revenge attack against his mother, Raylene Louw, apparently because of unrequited love.
But she said she couldn’t deny that Louw was not forthright and didn’t take the court into her confidence.
Judge Henriques said Ebrahim’s lack of remorse throughout the trial could be seen as an aggravating circumstance, especially when he claimed to love the child.
She said he had many opportunities to tell the family where Miguel’s body was, fully knowing they were suffering.
Henriques said after weighing all the factors, she found it would be unjust to mete out the full sentence.
