Malicious damage case against lawyer withdrawn
A CASE of malicious damage to property against Atlantic Seaboard attorney Gary Trappler has been withdrawn for lack of evidence before it could be heard in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court.
Trappler was arrested in February last year after his neighbour, Thandi Mgwaba, claimed he had slashed two tyres of her rented car.
In a statement to the control prosecutor, David Jacobs, Trappler’s advocate, Anél du Toit, said video evidence did not show Trappler damaging the car, and had been manipulated by a third party, who, while not a complainant in the case, had a personal vendetta against Trappler.
Trappler has previously clashed with some members of the Green Point community who hold opposing views to his on the issues of street crime and homeless people in the area.
In 2019, Trappler represented residents from Sea Point and the Atlantic Seaboard who supported the City’s court battle with seven homeless people who sought an interdict to prevent the City from enforcing a by-law that fined the homeless for sleeping on pavements and in the doorways of businesses.
Asking for the charge to be withdrawn, Du Toit said: “A thorough perusal of the docket shows that there is, in fact, no direct evidence of my client’s involvement in the slashing of Mgwaba’s tyres.
“The matter has caused great anguish to my client, and he and his family have had to bear the brunt of threats, his incarceration and public allegations, all in furtherance of a political agenda.”
Du Toit said Mgwaba had not said in her statement that she witnessed the incident, and had confirmed the reality of street crime in Green Point.