A former primary school guidance counsellor who was convicted of rape and sexual assault and sentenced to life imprisonment, will have to spend time behind bars while his defence prepares to apply for leave to appeal his conviction. The denial of his bail extension seemed to come as a shock to him. He uttered the words ‘Are you happy now’ towards one of his victim’s families as he was escorted from the courtroom to his prison cell.

Darren Goddard was yesterday sentenced to life plus 22 years imprisonment in the Pietermaritzburg High Court. He was convicted in March last year of six out of 15 charges relating to the rape and sexual assault of nine young boys he was counselling while employed at a city school between 2012 and 2016.

Delivering her sentence to a full courtroom, packed with the parents and grandparents of many of the young victims, family members were seen holding hands and hugging as judge Kate Pillay handed down sentence for one charge of rape, relating to one of the nine boys.

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Goddard’s court case spanned seven years

The parents of the victims, who have waited over six years for the judgement, and another year for the sentencing, have been vocal about their discontent that Goddard’s bail was extended after his conviction, pending sentencing.

During the sentencing proceedings, characterised by suspense, parents again held their breath when the possibility arose of Goddard’s bail being extended pending his application for leave to appeal his convictions.

Goddard appeared unflinching as Pillay handed down the life sentence, plus the other sentences for the counts relating to sexual abuse and for accessing child pornography.

However, his demeanour dramatically changed when Pillay refused to extend his bail application, as part of the defence application for leave to appeal Goddard’s convictions.

Instead of granting leave to appeal to the full bench of the high court, as the defence requested, Pillay granted Goddard leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein, which requires a fresh new application process.

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Appearing surprised at the outcome of his bail application, and on the realisation that the next steps for him were down the stairs and into a jail cell, Goddard’s face, for the first time that morning, showed emotion.

In his application for leave to appeal, Goddard’s legal defence maintained they were ‘convinced’ that another court would come to a different conclusion.

Of the rape charge, his defence said they remained of the impression that the child’s version of events in the evidence presented to court was ‘imaginative’.

“It is difficult to stand here and say, ‘you made a mistake’,” Goddard’s lawyer told the judge, asking her not to take it personally and reminding her it was within his client’s right. He said statistics show that 30% of court convictions are later set aside.

“There are cases where an accused has spent five years in prison before his conviction is set aside. By then his life has been destroyed. I do not want my client’s life to be destroyed,” Goddard’s lawyer said.

The state strongly opposed bail, claiming there were no exceptional circumstance to warrant it. The defence argued that the fact that Goddard had meticulously attended every court appearance and had not absconded after being convicted should be an exceptional circumstance for bail to be granted.

State advocate Attie Truter further argued against Goddard’s bail application saying that by law, bail is terminated on sentencing. He said granting bail would not be in the interest of society.

“It is my duty to uphold the law and present the outcome to the parents and victims. Most parents don’t understand the reason why he is still on bail.”

“How can I explain that [a man] convicted of offences committed from 2011 to 2016 is still out on bail? Where’s the justice in that?” Truter questioned.

After an adjournment, judge Pillay refused the bail application, noting that attending court dates was part of his bail conditions and that he was doing so under the belief he could be acquitted.

“Things have changed dramatically now,” Pillay told the court.

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Pillay said Goddard, who maintained his not-guilty-plea throughout the trial, showed no signs of remorse.

She also emphasised that the crimes took place at a primary school, where Goddard was at the time employed as a guidance counsellor.

“He abused the trust of those he counselled for his own sexual gratification.”