Zephany kidnap trial: mom testifies

ALMOST two decades ago, young mother Celeste Nurse was roused from her medically induced sleep to answer a question that would alter her life forever.

“Mommy, where is your baby?” the nurse asked Celeste, moments after her daughter, Zephany Joy Nurse, was snatched from her cot in the maternity ward at Groote Schuur Hospital on April 30, 1997.

Testifying about that lifechanging experience for the first time, Celeste and her thenhusband, Morné Nurse, told the Western Cape High Court, of the devastation they experienced when their 2-day-old daughter was kidnapped.

Biological

The news of the kidnapping of Zephany in 1997 made headlines 19 years ago, and more recently, when Morne, her biological father, tracked her down and reunited her with her family.

Yesterday, a 51-year-old Lavender Hill woman pleaded not guilty to charges of kidnapping, fraud and contravening sections of the Children’s Act.

Celeste testified: “My bed was near the door. The cot was also near the door. There were six beds in the ward. I was lying in the bed next to the cot. What I can remember was that she (Zephany) started crying – I was sleeping at the time. I saw a person near the door.

“She was wearing an oatmeal top and maroon pants (a nurse’s uniform). The person at the door asked me if she could pick up my baby... All I can remember after that is the hospital nurse in my ward asking me where my baby was.”

A new key witness in the trial was introduced to the court yesterday.

The accused is out on bail.