Justice Served? The Trial and Conviction of Bob Hewitt

Jamaine Krige

Aug 2016 · Penguin Random House South Africa

About this ebook

In 1992, former Grand Slam tennis champion Bob Hewitt was inducted into the International Tennis Hall of Fame. In 2012, he was indefinitely suspended following multiple allegations of sexual misconduct from women he coached as young girls. On 23 March 2015, Hewitt was found guilty of two counts of rape and one of sexual assault after a watershed trial that has changed the legal landscape and how the South African judicial system prosecutes historic rape. This book takes the reader behind the scenes of the trial that shook the foundations of the international sporting world. It follows the case against Hewitt instituted by Suellen Sheehan and two fellow accusers, only a few of the dozens of survivors who allegedly suffered abuse at his hands. The result was a six-year prison sentence handed down to the frail 75-year-old, more than 30 years after his crimes. Justice Served? The Trial and Conviction of Bob Hewitt covers various perspectives of the trial, from that of the state prosecutor to the defence advocate and other key role-players, includes Hewitt’s appeal of sentence in 2016, and chronicles the spectacular fall from grace of a world-famous tennis legend.

About the author

JAMAINE KRIGE is a reporter at the Herald newspaper in Port Elizabeth and covered the Bob Hewitt trial from day one. She holds a BPhil Journalism degree from the University of Stellenbosch, as well as a triple-major degree in psychology, criminology and sociology from the University of South Africa (UNISA). She has a special interest in abnormal psychology and victimology.