Medics murder gets 15 years

THE man who stabbed Department of Health medic Pietie Links, 36, during a dispute over money in January has been sentenced to 15 years behind bars.

Lionel Claasen, 28, yesterday appeared in the Storms River Magistrate Court where he pleaded guilty to murdering Links.

Links was stabbed in the neck during the dispute outside a house in Woodlands near Kareedouw in the Langkloof.

The incident sent shockwaves through the province’s Emergency Medical Services who condemned the attack.

The attack is one of the latest in a string of attacks on medics – at least 26 – around the province in the past 23 months.

Claasen, who fled the scene, was arrested hours after the attack.

At the time of the arrest, the knife used in the attack was also found in Claasen’s possession.

Links and ambulance driver Ricardo Jantjies had been dispatched to a medical call out when they stopped outside Links’s house.

At the time, police said that Claasen came charging out of the house and attacked Links – who also owed him money.

Yesterday, police spokesman Sergeant Majola Nkohli welcomed the conviction. “This is the result of good investigation work. The suspect [Claasen] was left with no other choice than to plead guilty due to the overwhelming evidence gathered against him during the course of the investigation,” he said.

Humansdorp Cluster Commander Brigadier Neil Jantjies also welcomed the conviction stating that this should serve as an example that lawlessness would not be tolerated.

Other attacks on medics included vandalism, robbery and attempted murder.