Convicted killer Shannon Petersen has managed to get a postponement on his sentence appeal date, despite being late in filing his court papers, after a judge allowed it in the interests of justice.

A Cape Argus report says the full appeal Bench in the case of Petersen, who in 2015 was sentenced to life imprisonment for the 2013 murder of Devon Claasen, has now been postponed to 27 October.

The case had been set for hearing on 21 July, but two days before the full Bench was to have sat, Petersen’s attorney applied to the Western Cape High Court for the postponement.

The state had already filed a notice of intention to strike the appeal from the roll because Petersen was meant to have filed his court papers in May and failed to do so, but Petersen’s attorney argued that the delay had been caused by Petersen’s family, which had not paid on time.

This excuse did not sit well with Judge Deidre Kusevitsky, who said: ‘What is concerning in this matter is the manner in which this appeal was dealt with by Petersen’s attorney and the total disregard for the rules of court.’

She added: ‘Where a party seeks an indulgence of the court, he or she must show good cause for the interference with his or her opponent’s procedural right to proceed and with the general interests of justice in having the matter finalised.’

She said the failure by the attorney to have notified the relevant persons and officers of court, indicates ‘an utter disregard for the court’.

Nevertheless, she ruled it was in the interests of justice that a postponement be granted and for the appeal to be prosecuted as soon as possible.

Kusevitsky also ordered that Petersen should file his heads of argument by 15 September, and that the state’s arguments should be in by 29 September.

Full Cape Argus report