Court questions attack timeline

AFTER almost a week-long bail application by John-Ross Henderson and Rozario Mojaki, who are accused of being involved in a robbery and shooting incident at a supermarket in Galeshewe, there is still no indication whether the two will be granted bail.

They appeared in the Galeshewe Magistrate’s Court yesterday after they were charged with four counts of attempted murder and business robbery related to an incident at the Cheapest Supermarket during which four Chinese nationals were shot and robbed.

The victims were apparently sleeping in a back room on the premises when the incident occurred.

According to previous reports, the attackers robbed the victims of an undisclosed amount of cash, two cellphones and a laptop, before speeding off in a green Jeep.

Court proceedings kicked off yesterday with questions from Magistrate Benjamin September directed at the investigating officer (IO), Bennett Sebegeilwe, on the movements of Henderson and the sequence of events on the night of the incident.

Henderson is a member of the Public Order Police (POP) and said that he was on duty on the night.

Sebegeilwe confirmed that Henderson was on duty, but had requested permission from his commander to go home.

He said that Henderson’s crew members dropped him off at work, where he drove home in his private vehicle.

The IO testified that the commander could not remember the time they dropped Henderson off, but according to a witness, he later saw the accused that night.

“According to the witness Henderson was seen driving a white Polo at 12.55am on the morning of November 7,” he told the court.

Sebegeilwe said that according to the movement report of Henderson’s crew members, who were driving in a marked police vehicle, they went to pick him up again at around 3.43am.

“The movement report did not, however, state whether the police vehicle stopped in Constantia Road (where Henderson stays) at 3.43am. It only indicated that the vehicle was in the street.”

September also questioned the time frame during which the attack occurred and the time that the crew members went to pick up Henderson at his home.

According to Sebegeilwe, the crew members were at the petrol station on the N12 when they got the call about the robbery.

“According to one of them, they received a call from control at 3.30am. They were at the Shell Ultra City on the N12 towards Johannesburg. The two members then drove to the scene of the incident and when they approached they saw a Land Rover parked behind the store.

“They realised that the vehicle belonged to Henderon’s family and then drove back to his house to fetch him. They returned with Henderson, who took the vehicle home,” he said.

September wanted to know whether the times on the movement report are estimates, as these events occurred within a short period of time.

He also questioned the fact that no identity parade was held, while the witnesses stated they could not see the suspects involved, yet the two accused are being charged.

According to Sebegeilwe they had to abort the plan for an identity parade as the identities of the accused were made public.

“I saw the newspaper published the face of accused two (Henderson) . . . it appeared in the newspaper more than once,” he said.

September, however, was not pleased with the response.

“You are part of an investigating team. Why was the court not informed to give a specific instruction to the media not publish the identity of the accused? The prosecutor and IO know what is detrimental and beneficial to a case. The court does not know unless it is informed,” September said.

Henderson’s attorney, Sinethemba Mzuzu, said that his client’s statement was corroborated by the movement report as well as the witness who saw him at the petrol station before 1am.

“According to the statement of accused two (Henderson), he got a call from his girlfriend after midnight to go and buy candles because the power was off.

“After buying the candles, he was dropped off at work by crew members where he collected his white Polo. He also stated that he went to drop off petrol containers, which he bought for their Land Rover, at the petrol station at about 12.55am. That was when the witness saw him in the Polo,” Mzuzu said.

He added that the security guard and the crew confirmed that Henderson was not in the Land Rover that was seen in the vicinity of the robbery.

“The security guard said that when he stopped the Land Rover, he did not see accused two. The crew members also said that they went to fetch Henderson from home after they spotted the Land Rover,” he said.

He added that his client does have exceptional circumstances to be granted bail.

“Accused two co-operated with the police from the start. He went and handed himself over, he has a permanent job at the police and has no previous or pending cases. He also has a girlfriend and a 10-month baby whom he is taking care of. His family lives in the city, so there is no indication that he will try to avoid his trial,” he said.

Mojaki’s attorney, Nkululeko Gqadushe, said it would be unfair for his client to be kept in custody as the police are still continuing with investigations.

“The address of accused one (Mojaki) has been confirmed. The police indicted that there is another person whom they want to add to the matter, but the identity of that person is still unknown. It will be unconstitutional for the accused to be kept in custody until the person, whose identity is unknown, is found,” he said.

Both attorneys requested the court to attach conditions to the bail if granted to their clients.

September said that he will have to evaluate the conditions and circumstances of the accused individually.

“Accused one is unemployed and accused two is employed. There is no indication whether he is still employed in the SAPS or if he had been suspended following the incident. I need to take all circumstances into account and cannot make a ruling on both as a whole,” he said.

The matter continues.