Disgraced former policewoman Alicia Beeming on Wednesday begged the court to be lenient, saying she had three children who needed her – especially as she did not receive maintenance from their fathers.
But the emotional plea fell flat when state prosecutor Rafiq Ahmed shot down the claim, citing financial records which clearly showed Beeming received child maintenance from both fathers.
Beeming – who was convicted on a charge of defeating the ends of justice after she hid the whereabouts of a suspected gangster from her colleagues – wept while asking magistrate Onke Myataza to hand down a light sentence.
Beeming, 34, took to the stand in her own defence in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
She told the court that after her previous lawyer withdrew from the case she could not afford further legal fees and could not get free Legal Aid representation as she was still employed by the police.
Beeming was testifying in mitigation of sentence in a protracted trial, which she claimed had taken its toll on her and her family.
“A plea agreement was drawn up between the state and my previous attorney and on those grounds I actually pleaded guilty,” she said.
“In November, I was told there was no agreement.
“I thought I was saving the state time for not having a full trial. The only thing I care about is my children, [and] the media portrays me as the evil one,” Beeming said, crying.
But Myataza told Beeming to “pull yourself together, don’t cry”.
Beeming also claimed that her children were bullied at school and had even received deaths threats.
She said she remained proud to be a police officer and that her career was of utmost importance to her.
“I feel I was not alone in this incident.
“A [former] colleague was pulled aside and offered a 204 agreement [to become a state witness].
“In the agreement, she mentions the fact that she did all the things I did and even worse,” Beeming said.
Beeming pleaded guilty to a charge of defeating the ends of justice in 2017, after keeping mum about the whereabouts of a known gangster the police were looking for while she was a member of the police’s gang unit.
Former gang unit boss Colonel Mike Grobler told the court previously how her actions had had a very negative effect on the unit and its relationship with the community.
Beeming joined the gang unit in April 2014 and, following her arrest in 2016, all the cases she had been investigating were withdrawn.
The consequences of her withholding information about her alleged lover, wanted gangster Hans Jordaan, were that the case against him was also withdrawn and he was released from custody.
Jordaan, who police suspect is a high-ranking member of the Upstand Dogs gang, was wanted on a charge of attempted murder and had been on the run from police.
Beeming claimed on Wednesday that the commander of the police’s gang unit, whom she did not name, had a personal vendetta against her, but she did not elaborate.
“He wanted me out because I know too much.”
Ahmed said the biological father of Beeming’s twins was in a position to take care of the children, including her eldest child from a previous relationship.
Ahmed also told the court that Beeming had broken the trust built up between the police and communities affected by gang-related crimes.
“She failed the community and must be punished.”
Myataza postponed the matter to March 14 for sentencing.