Zackey cleared of nightclub incident

CRAIG Zackey has been cleared by a Cape Town magistrate of all charges regarding an incident at a night club in Cape Town where he was accused of assault.

In what turned out to be an expensive waste of time for the affable jockey in which he had to spend a night in jail, make six visits to court in Cape Town and cope with a malicious assault on social media, the magistrate threw the matter out of court after the complainant had given evidence. He called the complainant “a terrible witness” and did not even want to hear from the defence.

The incident occurred after the Sun Met meeting on January 26. Zackey had ridden the last winner on the card and a group of jockeys had booked tables at Club 31 in Cape Town.

Zackey and good friend Callan Murray went together where they met up with a number of other jockeys, including Sean Veale who was there with a party which included his sister-in-law.

A few members of the group decided to go and dance and while they were doing so, an “unknown elder white male” ambled through the dancing group and spilled his drink all over Veale’s sister-in-law. He then remarked he would wipe it off her. Upset by his comment, she went to sit down. He then turned to where Zackey and his friends were sitting and asked what the “choir boys were looking at”.

He then tried to punch one of the guys but missed and as a result he was then hit on the side of his face by what he described in court as “an unknown assailant”, admitting he did not see who hit him. Later, when the jockeys were leaving, this same person came downstairs and then called over a policeman and said he had been assaulted. When asked by whom, he pointed to Zackey and said: “I think it’s that guy.”

Zackey was arrested and kept at a police station until he was released on R500 bail at 6pm on the Sunday.

Zackey has not yet decided whether to take the matter further.

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