Ex-cops sentenced after four killed in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG - Two former South African policemen were sentenced to a combined 205 years in jail Wednesday for murdering four men in a bar brawl that began over a comparison of penis sizes.

Durban High Court Judge Guido Penzhorn sentenced brothers Brian Steven and Leon Steven to 115 years and 90 years imprisonment, respectively, for the murder of four drinkers in Durban’s Merseyside Pub in September 2008 and the attempted murder of another.

Police said the argument began when a patron of Indian descent made a remark about the size of a white patron’s penis while both were using the loo.

A brawl then erupted between a group of white men on one side, and a group of men of Indian descent, including the Steven brothers, on the other.

The court heard how, after being shut out of the pub, the siblings forced their way back inside and opened fire on the patrons, killing four and seriously injuring another.

During the sentencing hearing Tuesday, the brothers’ lawyer had argued that the men had been provoked by racial slurs and had not meant to kill anyone.

The lawyer also claimed excessive alcohol played a part in the killings.

Many of South Africa’s 16,894 annual murders take place during fights fuelled by alcohol.