A Manenberg man was sentenced to two life terms in the Western Cape High Court on Friday November 4, for the rape and murder of 16-year-old Michaela Adriaanse.
Michaela, from Hanover Park, was reported missing on Thursday March 19 last year, and her body was found on the mountain above Kalk Bay on Sunday March 22, 2015 (“Body of Michaela positively identified”, April 1, 2015).
Bradley Noble, 37, was found guilty of her rape and murder, and was sentenced by Acting Judge Yolanda Renqe, who said he had showed no remorse.
The teen’s body was found with extensive injuries. During sentencing, Acting Judge Renqe said Noble was “merciless”, adding that he had brutally assaulted her and left her in a bush where her body was fed on by scavenger animals.
On the day she went missing, she and four friends had skipped a school surf walk and went on a private excursion to the Wynberg public pool, but when they were denied access, they went to Kalk Bay beach instead. It is believed that Michaela walked away from her friends after she had had an argument with one of them.
Noble, whom the group met on that day, followed her and told her friends that he would bring her back. However, that was the last time her friends saw her alive.
Noble was convicted of Michaela’s rape and murder last week, when it also emerged that he had an extensive list of previous brushes with the law, which included rape and assault. He has two pending rape cases in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court for offences allegedly committed in 2013 and 2014.
Acting Judge Renqe also said because of his history, it was “evident that he had an opportunity to reflect and refrain from his despicable conduct” when he was previously imprisoned.
She added that it had, however, not deterred him from raping and killing Micheala.
Michaela’s family said while it would not bring Michaela back or ease their pain, they were relieved at the outcome of the court case. Her family – father Sean, mother Felecia, and sisters Jodie Adriaanse, Antonia Petes, and Nadine Bester – were all at court during the sentencing procedures, wearing pink T-shirts printed with the pictures of the murdered teen and the words “Justice for Michaela”.