Hewitt had asked to remain free ahead of his petition to the Constitutional Court to appeal his rape and indecent assault convictions and effective six-year prison sentence. File photo
Image by: Alon Skuy
Image by: Alon Skuy
After all arguments had been considered in convicted rapist Bob Hewitt's bail application this week‚ it was the former tennis champion's right to liberty that settled the matter in his favour.
Judge Brian Spilg on Wednesday gave his reasons for granting Hewitt bail at the Johannesburg High Court.
Hewitt had asked to remain free ahead of his petition to the Constitutional Court to appeal his rape and indecent assault convictions and effective six-year prison sentence.
At the crux of Hewitt's upcoming Constitutional Court application lies email correspondence between his victims‚ which‚ according to his advocate Stephanie Green‚ suggests the women colluded to get his criminal trial off the ground.
Spilg said that he was not able to determine the relevance of this evidence but that it seemed unnecessary to lock Hewitt up now‚ considering his old age.
“The trial judge would be in a better position to determine the weight that should be attached to these emails.
“As I am not the trial judge and do not have the advantage of contextualising the evidence sought to be introduced into the facts known to the court‚ I am obliged to err on the side of the right to liberty.”
Judge Bert Bam‚ who presided over Hewitt's trial‚ was not available to hear the 76-year-old's most recent bail bid.
Spilg said that in granting Hewitt bail he is not suggesting that there is not a rational explanation for the emails sent between the women.
The emails first came to light through an SABC News report in October. They were exchanged in 2012 before Hewitt was charged with any crime and appear to reveal that Hewitt's victims discussed the legal definition of rape.
The decision to publish these emails was met with a backlash from supporters of Hewitt's victims.
The Supreme Court of Appeal earlier this month dismissed Hewitt's appeal of his sentence‚ saying he had abused his authority when he raped two of his minor tennis students in the 1980s and indecently assaulted another in the 1990s.
Hewitt is out on bail of R10,000.
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