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Hewitt set to appear for bail application

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A bail application is set to be heard for former tennis Grand Slam champion and convicted rapist Bob Hewitt at the Johannesburg High Court on Monday.

The Supreme Court of Appeal in Bloemfontein previously said Hewitt had abused his position of authority when he raped two young women and sexually assaulted another.

It dismissed his appeal to have his six-year jail sentence overturned, and said his fame did not earn him special treatment.

In March last year, High Court Judge Bert Bam found the 75-year-old guilty of raping Suellen Sheehan and Theresa “Twiggy” Tolken. Bam sentenced Hewitt to eight years each for the rapes in May. Hewitt had coached the women in the 1980s, when they were teenagers.

Two years of each sentence were suspended for two years, provided he paid an amount on each count towards a department of justice programme to combat the abuse of women and children.

In the 1990s, he coached another teenage girl – who may not be named. He was sentenced to two years for indecently assaulting her.

The SCA said it was regrettable that it had taken so long to bring him to justice.

It said Hewitt’s crimes had had a “lasting and devastating” effect on the victims and their families.

Sheehan and Tolken, both divorcees, had struggled to maintain intimate relationships with men throughout their adult lives as a direct result of the rapes.

[Source: News24]
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