Court sets aside August dates to hear applications for leave to appeal convictions, sentences of Smith, Appollis & Van Rhyn
Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn are serving life sentences after being found guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking.
Joshlin Smith’s mother, Kelly Smith (right), Jacquen Appollis, and Stevano van Rhyn in the Western Cape High Court, sitting in the Saldanha Bay Multi-Purpose Centre, on 12 March 2025. Picture: Carlo Petersen/EWN
CAPE TOWN - The Western Cape High Court has set aside dates in August to hear applications for leave to appeal the convictions and life sentences of Kelly Smith, Jacquen Appollis and Steveno van Rhyn, related to the disappearance of Joshlin Smith.
Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn are serving life sentences after being found guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking.
The National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) previously confirmed that attorneys for the three convicts filed notices to appeal the high court's ruling and sentences.
Attorneys for Smith, Appollis and Van Rhyn filed the notices to appeal presiding Judge Nathan Erasmus' ruling and sentences barely a week after he made his ruling in May this year.
Erasmus sentenced the trio to life behind bars, plus an extra ten years after finding them guilty of kidnapping and human trafficking.
NPA spokesperson, Eric Ntabazalila, confirmed that 12 and 13 August had been set aside for the application for leave to appeal hearing.
"All three filed papers challenging both conviction and sentence. The NPA will oppose the applications as we are confident that there are no prospects of success."
Judge Erasmus will also decide the fate of former-accused-turned State witness, Lourentia Lombaard, on 13 August.
Both matters are set to be heard at the Western Cape High Court in Cape Town.
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