Defence disputes Panayiotou trial video evidence

THE murder trial involving Christopher Panayiotou and his two co-accused resumed in the Eastern Cape High Court, Port Elizabeth, yesterday.

A trial-within-a-trial was currently under way to determine the admissibility of a video recording in which Panayiotou allegedly implicated himself. The businessman is accused of masterminding the abduction and murder of his wife, Jayde, in April 2015. Yesterday, the State called Lieutenant-Colonel Audrey Till, who at the time of Panayiotou’s arrest was the acting commander of the police’s Directorate of Priority Crime Investigations (Hawks) in Port Elizabeth.

Till, who was present during Panayiotou’s arrest, told the court that the businessman was silent when police swooped on him just days after his wife’s killing. Till said that the investigating officer Captain Kanna Swanepoel read Panayioutou’s rights, but Panayiotou refused to say anything or sign any documentation. “(Outside the house) there was a search of a vehicle in which a cellphone was found in the front panel of the car.” Till told the court at the time of Panayiotou’s arrest his father was the only family member present.

Till, Swanepoel and Warrant Officer Leon Eksteen together with Panayiotou proceeded to the Stellen Glen Complex in Kabega Park where a search took place and items were seized from the couple’s home, according to her testimony.

Under cross-examination, defence advocate Terry Price, put it to Till that Panayiotou was never apprised of his rights and his father, Costa, would testify to that.

Price further criticised police methods, in that Panayiotou refused to sign in Swanepoel’s pocket book that he had been apprised of his rights. “But Swanepoel does not say that in either of his affidavits,” argued Price.

Price went on to lambaste Till for being unaware of a recorded interview and transcripts of when Panayiotou’s bouncer, Luthando Siyoni, was taken by police to the Hawks offices. Till said she had observed Siyoni at the offices and perceived him to have been in a “sober sound” state of mind. She told the court she never mentioned the interview in her affidavit as she felt it was “not relevant”.

“So no one told you they were recording him? You who are head of the unit were not aware of it?” asked Price.

Till said that she had only become aware of the recording yesterday. The case was postponed until tomorrow. – ANA