Accident robbed me of my daughter - Jamie's father

An emotional father on Friday asked the Uitenhage Regional Court to send out a message that reckless drivers would not be tolerated.

Justin Uren, whose daughter Jamie Baartzes died in an accident, was testifying ahead of the sentencing of Amos Sinyanya who was found guilty of culpable homicide and reckless driving earlier this year.

Baartzes, who was studying to become a teacher, died in March 2016 while medics were attending to her at the crash scene on the M4 freeway, just past the Walmer Boulevard turnoff.

Sinyanya’s BMW, travelling on the wrong side of the road smashed into Baartzes’s vehicle as she was returning home after studying and doing research on campus with a friend.

Uren said the accident had robbed him of his daughter.  

“She was only 19 when we lost her. I have been robbed of the opportunity to see the beautiful woman she would have become,” Uren said.

“We have been told by many to find closure. I would not wish for anybody to go through this. We are all affected as a broader family. I have to live with the fact I will never see her again.”

Uren then urged the court to impose a sentence that would send a message to other road users and deter would-be transgressors.

"The conduct of reckless drivers has far reaching implication. There has to be a message that says to the community be responsible when you get into the vehicle.

“This is not about retribution. Yes there is still anger in me but it's about communities changing behaviour.

“We need a message that says don't take a chance and the only way is for the accused to serve a term of a direct imprisonment," he said.

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