Former KZN primary school counsellor and convicted rapist home for Christmas

Convicted rapist and former Pietermaritzburg school counsellor Darren Goddard has been placed on house arrest until April next year.

This follows his application for bail pending his appeal application against his conviction and life sentence to the Supreme Court of Appeal (SCA) in Bloemfontein. That application, however, cannot proceed as court records need to be reconstructed as they are missing.

According to an article published by The Witness, Goddard’s lawyer, advocate Shane Matthews, said the case was missing 55 days of court records of the trial. The defence needs the records to proceed with the appeal.

The 55 days were, according to the state, erased from the machine when it was serviced.

Goddard was convicted in March 2022 on seven counts of sexual assault, one count of rape, and one charge of accessing and possessing child pornography.

He has been serving his sentence at Kokstad’s C-Max Prison for the past 20 months.

Goddard appeared in court today for a bail application based on new facts, pending his SCA application.

His offences, committed between 2012 and 2016, involved young boys he counselled at a Pietermaritzburg primary school, using his position of trust to exploit and abuse them.

In 2023, Judge Kate Pillay sentenced Goddard to life imprisonment, calling his actions a ‘gross abuse of authority’.

“He used these children for his own gratification, abusing the power of his role to prey on those in his care,” Pillay said during sentencing.

Matthews told the court today that it would be impossible for Goddard to prepare for the reconstruction of the missing records if he was in Kokstad as he was not allowed a laptop, or reading material and was denied phone calls to his attorney.

He also told the court that Goddard was diagnosed with a heart condition.

He argued that Goddard’s being kept in prison infringed on his Constitutional right as he was unable to continue with his SCA application with the records, which would be impossible to reconstruct if he was behind bars.

Senior prosecutor advocate Attie Trutter argued that Goddard’s bail application was premature and suggested he be transferred to New Prison to make it easier for him to prepare and be available for the reconstruction.

Judge Pillay felt that if he was released on bail and the reconstruction delayed, either parties could be prejudiced in the long run. She said she was willing to grant an order that Goddard be transferred from Kokstad to New Prison.

However, the manager at the Kokstad prison said his transfer could take months and can only be processed after January 10.

With the option of transferring him to New Prison for the reconstruction not viable, Judge Pillay said she would accept Matthews’ application.

“I will place you under house arrest subject to the reconstruction of the court records. I will revisit my decision upon the reconstruction,” said Judge Pillay.

The matter was adjourned to April 7 to 11.