Miguel Louw's killer Mohamed Ebrahim handed 25-year sentence

Mohamed Ebrahim was also sentenced to eight years for kidnapping and 18 months for theft on Wednesday.  

The theft and kidnapping sentences will run concurrently with the murder one.

Ten-year-old Miguel disappeared from outside his school in Sydenham in July 2018. His body was found several weeks later in Phoenix.

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A crime of passion was one of many factors that Judge Jacqueline Hendriques said she took into account before handing down sentence.

Hendriques 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 Hendriques 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.

Hendriques said after weighing all the factors, she found it would be unjust to mete out the full sentence.