Heist case postponed again

THE IMPORTANCE of ensuring the speedy finalisation of court cases was again highlighted in the Kimberley Magistrate’s Court by Magistrate Benjamin September during yesterday’s appearance of six men allegedly involved in a cash-intransit heist at the K&B Supermarket in Beaconsfield.

The accused are facing charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances following the cash-in-transit heist of two G4S vehicles which were parked next to the Standard Bank in Beaconsfield in November last year.

September pointed out that the case had been dragging on for several months and urged all parties involved to urgently resolve the outstanding issues.

“This case has been coming on for six months. We really need to show that we are serious about court matters. We cannot have accused sitting in custody for months,” September said.

DNA samples

The State, represented by Quinton Hollander, indicated to the court that the DNA samples of accused six needed to be sent to the laboratory and a bail application needed to be heard for one of the accused.

September postponed the case to later this month for the outstanding bail application.

The six accused, who can still not be named or identified, were arrested after the robbery involving a G4S vehicle at the Standard bank ATM at K&B.

The robbery occurred after two vehicles, a red Datsun bakkie and a Honda Ballade, boxed in a G4S cash-in-transit vehicle parked next to the ATM.

Several heavily-armed gunmen climbed out of the two vehicles and surrounded the armoured vehicle, before opening fire with R5 rifles.

The three G4S security guards were apparently in the process of offloading and collecting money from K&B and the ATM.

Two of the security guards were apparently forced to the ground and another was robbed of his firearm, which was apparently later retrieved by the police.