The Herald (South Africa)

Ex-gang task team cop may enter plea deal

Detective fined at disciplina­ry hearing after affair with suspected gangster

- Kathryn Kimberley kimberleyk@timesmedia.co.za

AS the criminal case against a gang task team detective who allegedly had an affair with a wanted gangster was postponed for a possible guilty plea yesterday, it emerged that Constable Alicia Beeming had been fined and transferre­d after she was convicted during an internal disciplina­ry process.

Beeming, 33, was ordered to pay a fine of R2 400 and transferre­d to the Motherwell Family Violence Child Protection and Sexual Offences (FCS) Unit after she pleaded guilty to breaching the SAPS code in November.

She was also given a sanction of dismissal, which was suspended for six months on condition she does not commit similar misconduct.

Beeming faces a charge of defeating the ends of justice after she allegedly masked the whereabout­s of suspected Upstand Dogs gang member Hans Jordaan, wanted in connection with an attempted murder.

In the Port Elizabeth Regional Court yesterday, her defence attorney, Hennie Bence – who has represente­d some of the city’s most notorious gang suspects – asked that the matter be postponed to April 18 for Beeming to plead.

He said a lot of court time would be saved this way.

State advocate Jason Thysse agreed to the postponeme­nt.

Police spokeswoma­n Colonel Priscilla Naidu confirmed that Beeming had pleaded guilty during an internal disciplina­ry hearing and was convicted of breaching some SAPS codes.

“[Beeming] was given a sanction of dismissal, which was suspended for six months on condition she does not commit a similar misconduct,” Naidu said. “She also had to pay a fine. “She has reported back to her station of origin, which is the FCS unit in Motherwell.”

The situation would be reassessed once the court case had concluded.

The state claims Beeming kept silent about her relationsh­ip with Jordaan, 33, while she was being used as a specialist investigat­or into gang activity in the northern areas.

Beeming allegedly kept mum on Jordaan’s whereabout­s when her unit was searching for him in connection with an attempted murder charge related to a gang shooting in 2014.

Between April 2014 and March 2015, Beeming had attended secret meetings in which gang suspects, including Jordaan, were discussed.

The charge sheet states that Beeming had constant telephonic contact with Jordaan, all the while knowing he was a wanted man.

In one instance, on January 31 2015, Beeming allegedly collected Jordaan from a crime scene after he had been shot in Bloemendal and took him to Livingston­e Hospital.

After he was discharged, she allegedly fetched him from his Bloemendal home, collected medicine from the Mount Road Pharmacy so she could treat his wounds, and then booked him into a guesthouse on the outskirts of Port Elizabeth.

She is out on warning.

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ALICIA BEEMING

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