High Court Judge Naomi Shivute has sentenced Walvis Bay murder convict Reddick |Narib (33) to 28 years’ imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to murdering his five-year-old stepson.

|Narib was also sentenced to five years for defeating or obstructing the course of justice, with three years of that sentence ordered to run concurrently with the murder sentence.

Delivering the sentence, Judge Shivute described the killing as a horrendous offense and said |Narib assaulted the minor on a vulnerable part of his body.

She said |Narib’s moral blameworthiness was very high, noting that he brutally assaulted the child.

“The boy regarded him as a father,” Shivute said, adding that the accused instead turned out to be “a monster”.

The judge further said |Narib tormented the child’s mother after the murder by sending her a text message informing her that he had killed her son.

Shivute also found that the accused only entered a guilty plea because he had no other choice.

She said |Narib’s personal circumstances were far outweighed by the seriousness of the crimes he committed.

The court heard that the accused met the child at a tuck shop, and the boy followed him. |Narib then walked with the minor to the dunes, where he assaulted him with a brick to the head and used a knife, leading to the child’s death.

After the murder, |Narib buried the boy in a shallow grave.

During testimony, |Narib told the court he was jealous and believed his wife had sexual relations with another man.

He and the child’s mother, Memory Eises, were separated at the time of the incident.

|Narib said he was angry with the mother and wanted to hurt her.