Van Breda sentencing: Defence fails to give court reason 'to show mercy'

The 23-year-old was last month found guilty of the murder of his parents - Martin and Teresa van Breda - and his older brother Rudi.

He was also convicted of the attempted murder of his teenage sister - Marli - who is still recovering from the 2015 axe attack in their Stellenbosch home. 

Judge Desai said although it may seem uncomplicated to reach a decision - he owes it to society to consider the sentence over the next few days. 

He asked defence lawyer, Advocate Botha to provide one human factor in mitigation of sentence but Botha couldn't give a single reason why mercy should be applied in the sentencing.

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By contrast, the State spoke of the human beings whose lives were cut short by the murders. The judge made reference to his sister, Marli, who will go through life with no family - knowing her brother took them all away from her. 

Judge Desai says a sentence will be handed down on Thursday at 10am.