Trial to go ahead with or without accused

THE trial of the man accused of raping his ex-girlfriend and beating her new boyfriend to death will go ahead – even though the accused again refused to enter the dock of the Port Elizabeth High Court yesterday.

The accused, who cannot be named as he has not yet pleaded to the rape charge, stood outside the cells and refused to walk up the stairs to the dock.

Speaking through a court-appointed interpreter, the man asked the court why he was handcuffed and shackled while others in the cells were not.

“Correctional Services advised for you to be handcuffed,” Judge Dayalin Chetty said.

The man replied that he was not aggressive or violent.

“You want to show me off in handcuffs,” he told Chetty through the interpreter.

A frustrated Chetty told the man that the court would not be held to ransom and that a trial date would be set. If he did not cooperate, the trial would continue without him, Chetty said.

“The case has been postponed for trial . you will be brought to this court. If you refuse to come up [from the cells,] the trial will continue without you,” Chetty said.

The accused faces two counts of rape, murder, assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, kidnapping and housebreaking with intent to assault.

He is already serving a 12year sentence for robbery with aggravating circumstances.

According to the state, the man went to the Motherwell house of his ex-girlfriend where he kicked down the door, went into their bedroom and beat the victim’s new boyfriend to death with an iron rod while he slept.

The accused also allegedly stabbed another woman, who in turn threw a kettle filled with boiling water in his face.

He then allegedly kidnapped the victim, took her to a friend’s shack and raped her twice.

Trial is set to start on April 18.