Buddy-nappers in PE court

FLANKED by two attorneys and an advocate, two young men accused of stealing Buddy the penguin from Bayworld last week made a brief first appearance in court yesterday.

Adrian Doman, 22, and Emile du Plessis, 18, appeared in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court in the wake of huge public interest and social media activity regarding the fate of the three-year-old penguin after it disappeared from the complex over a week ago.

Buddy – an African penguin and the father of two chicks, one of which has since died – was taken from his enclosure during the early hours of Wednesday last week, with staff only realising he was gone yesterday.

He has still not been found after information emerged he had been released into the ocean at Pollok Beach.

Although charges were not read out in court, Du Plessis and Doman have been charged with theft, contravention of marine conservation regulations and trespassing.

Earlier, they went to the Humewood police station to hand themselves over.

Magistrate Sanjani Naidoo said the case would be postponed pending further investigation and a decision from the director of public prosecutions.

The men were released on a police warning and will appear in court again on November 3.

Requests to speak to Du Plessis and Doman following the proceedings were denied, with their legal representatives saying they were “too traumatised to speak to the media”.

In a brief statement, Craig de Lange, of Burmeister De Lange Soni Inc, who represents Doman, said: “The boys realised what they had done was wrong and they were remorseful over the incident.

“They had no intention of harming the penguin – their sole purpose was to release it from captivity because they do not believe in animals being kept in cages.

“They have subsequently found out through Bayworld that the penguin is part of an endangered species.

“They are now working with Bayworld to help find the penguin, by searching the beaches and at the same time educating themselves and others about the work Bayworld is doing to help [educate] the public,” De Lange said.