Cop told to answer on drug charge

MDANTSANE cop Reneal Francis has a case to answer in his two counts of dealing in drugs, the regional court has ruled in dismissing his application for a discharge.

Francis, 30, had challenged the legality of a police trap in which he was allegedly caught selling mandrax tablets.

He was one of several policemen arrested for allegedly confiscating drugs they came across during raids on drug outlets but, instead of handing the drugs over, sold them on.

The son of a high-ranking policeman in the East London cluster, he faces corruption and drug-trafficking charges after allegedly selling the drugs to an undercover policeman, who may only be identified as Eric.

Francis’s counsel Terry Price argued at the end of the state’s case that, in setting up the trap, police investigators had used deceit, trickery, misrepresentation or reward to induce Francis into committing the alleged offences.

Price has also asserted that Francis participated in the trap because he believed it was an innocent and legitimate training exercise which would lead to him being appointed to the police Crime Intelligence Unit.

But East London regional court magistrate Sadia Jacobs said this week that no evidence was presented indicating how the inducement came about.

As a result, the court was unable to determine whether Eric had done more than providing an opportunity for Francis to commit an offence.

Jacobs said she was satisfied the state presented a prima facie case.

The court will decide today on a date for the defence case to be presented.

● A clerk in the East London Magistrate’s Court accused of theft has been found not guilty and discharged.

Phumla Mpahla, 32, was acquitted at the end of the state’s case in her trial before a magistrate from another district.

Mpahla, who works in an administrative office, had been accused of taking separate amounts of R500 and R650 from two members of the public in a case dating back to 2011. —