MBOMBELA – Wade Williams (30), who has become known as Robin Hood in court, was sentenced to 30 years’ imprisonment earlier today after having attempted to rob Londolozi Game Reserve of millions of rand in April. He also tried to kill Londolozi’s financial manager.
The magistrate, Mr André Geldenhuys had harsh words for Williams who kidnapped Mr Dave Dampier, tried to kill him and set part of the lodge on fire. “You are a risk to society. Once you start believing that yourself, it will be your first step in the right direction.”
Lowvelder previously reported that Williams had been arrested on the morning of April 5 while trying to flee from the crime scene. What had happened in the 24 hours prior to his arrest, was nothing short of a script for a thriller. He managed to steal R10,3 million which he wanted to transfer to overseas bank accounts. He drugged Dampier and had even planned to feed his body to the crocodiles. He set Londolozi’s archives on fire and fled in the reserve’s vehicle.
Fortunately, Dampier managed to overpower Williams to avoid this dreadful end.
Williams pleaded guilty to six charges against him. He read a letter in mitigation of sentencing to the court. It comprised seven pages, elaborating on how he was tired of the country’s high unemployment rate and “of the government lying to the country about almost everything”.
He was dubbed Robin Hood because he said the reason for his crime was that he wanted to share this loot with the poor.
Geldenhuys didn’t think much of this. Williams was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for theft, running concurrently with eight years for theft of a motor vehicle; 10 years for attempted murder, running concurrently with five years for kidnapping; five years for arson as well as five years for assault with the intend to do grievous bodily harm, also to be served concurrently.
• Read the full report in Friday’s print edition of Lowvelder.
On September 29, Lowvelder reported:
MBOMBELA – Wade Williams (30) admitted that he wanted to rob Londolozi Game Reserve of millions of rand in April in the Nelspruit Regional Court.
Williams was employed in the Londolozi’s financial department and pleaded guilty to a list of serious charges pertaining to his botched heist of one of the the world’s most luxurious game reserves on April 4 this year. He remains in custody and will return to court in October when pre-sentencing procedures and sentencing will follow.
The account ofWilliams’ crime and subsequent arrest, read like a novel and the full scope of what happened that fateful day, emerged during his bail hearing on April 20. Williams looked straight ahead with an expressionless face while senior state advocate Ms Isabet Erwee and Capt Leroy Bruwer delivered the punches. The evidence against him was damning.
“The events that led to your arrest were meticulously planned for more than a year,” Erwee said. His so-called plan of action (POA) was like the script of a Hollywood movie and even entailed getting rid of a body by feeding it to crocodiles. The POA, which investigators found on his laptop, carefully listed how he would first kidnap the reserve’s financial manager Mr Dave Dampier, then access Londolozi’s bank accounts and steal millions of rand before ultimately fleeing with a vehicle.
Williams needed a number of weapons to execute his plan and in November last year applied for a firearm licence. This was approved in March this year, a month and two days before the heist. On March 26 he acquired a Taser and returned to Londolozi on April 2, armed with a hunting knife, the Taser and a firearm.
It raised no alarm when Williams asked housekeeping for three black refuse bags and ordered a bottle of champagne, a bottle of vodka and packaging tape. It was only on April 4 that he put the goods to use. At 20:00 Williams went to Dampier’s room. Wielding the firearm, he threatened Dampier and obtained access to the reserve’s electronic funds. After transferring R10 million to his own accounts, he wanted to kill a much stronger and larger Dampier.
Erwee recounted the events during the bail application: “You then forced him to down the champagne and vodka so that he would lose consciousness. This way, it would have been easier to kill him. You put a plastic bag over his head and used a blanket to try and suffocate him before attempting to break his neck.” Williams then left Dampier’s room and set fire to the reserve’s archives. He stole the computer’s hard drive containing financial records and confidential information.
Returning to Dampier’s room he shone a torch in his eyes and jabbed him with a syringe. To his surprise Dampier awoke and tried to overpower him. However, Williams regained the upper hand and now had to deviate from his original plan to throw Dampier’s body in a dam as he was still alive. Williams shoved Dampier into the back of the reserve’s Discovery instead and headed to Kruger Mpumalanga International Airport at 07:00.
Somewhere along the way he dropped Dampier off next to the road. The investigating officer, Capt Bruwer told the court that a frantic Williams arrived at the airport, where he darted from the one car company to the next. All were closed and he couldn’t book a flight ticket either. He then left for Johannesburg in the stolen vehicle.
In the meantime, a distressed Dampier was picked up next to the road and Londolozi had alerted the police and a tracking company about the theft of its vehicle. Williams was apprehended in Mbombela at 08:30. The police confiscated bundles of cash, computer hardware and a laptop. The charges against him He was initially charged with robbery with aggravating circumstances, assault with the intent to commit grievous bodily harm, attempted murder, kidnapping, theft of a motor vehicle, arson and malicious damage to property.
The charge of robbery has since been reduced to a theft charge, as part of a plea bargain. On May 6, his attorney, Mr Mzilikazi Enos Mazibuko, confirmed his withdrawal as Williams’ legal representative. A postponement was granted to give Williams 21 days to find a new attorney. The case was postponed a number of times before he finally decided to plead guilty last week. Williams’ plea will be followed by arguments for aggravating and mitigating factors to influence sentencing on October 15.
