Djavan Arrigone, who was found guilty of urinating on a taxi driver from the balcony of the Tiger Tiger nightclub in Cape Town in January 2014, has been sentenced in the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court to a three-year wholly suspended sentence, on condition that he performs 200 hours of community service. A Cape Argus report says Magistrate Siviwe Yaki found that imprisonment would do more harm than good for Arrigone, considering that he was still young and a first offender.

However, she made it clear to him that his conduct was ‘disgusting’ and said she was saddened the courts were still dealing with cases of racism involving SA's youth. During the trial Arrigone did not dispute he had urinated on Michelle Puis Nomgcana, but denied acting intentionally. He testified he was drunk and was not concerned about whether anyone was underneath the balcony when he decided to expose his genitals to patrons and urinate.

However, Yaki was not persuaded by Arrigone’s claims and pointed out that he continued urinating and laughed about it even after he had been alerted to the fact that he had hit Nomgcana. Arrigone has to complete his community service at Nicro. A Weekend Argus report says Arrigone’s advocate, Eben Grobbelaar, indicated his client intended to apply for leave to appeal his conviction.

Full Cape Argus report

Full Weekend Argus report