Osrin arrested again, but charges provisionally withdrawn, says police spokesman
TIM Osrin, the man charged with assaulting domestic worker Cynthia Joni last month, was arrested again this week, this time in connection with charges of common assault, intimidation and sexual assault of a sex worker – but the charges were provisionally withdrawn hours after his arrest because of what police have called a “technicality”.
However Andre Traut, provincial police spokesman, said on Thursday that the in- vestigation into the charges against Osrin was ongoing, and the case would continue.
There was confusion at the Wynberg Magistrate’s Court on Thursday after police alerted that Osrin, 41, had been arrested early that morning and was due to appear in court the same day.
On arrival at the court, reporters were told that Osrin would not be appearing.
Control prosecutor Nathan Johnson then confirmed that the matter had not been enrolled because the State was now tasked with following up information on an “alibi” presented by Osrin.
Osrin, who previously ran the Simply Swimming school in Kenilworth (he resigned from this position last week), made a first appearance in the same court on October 15 after he allegedly beat up Joni, 44, a single mother from Khayelitsha, in broad daylight while she was on her way to work in Kenilworth on October 2.
In an interview, Osrin at first denied hitting Joni, and then said he had “just slapped her once… and she did fall to the ground”.
He excused his behaviour by saying he had believed Joni was a prostitute, and “just snapped” as she had appeared to laugh at him when he told her to get out of his street. He said he thought she was “giving me the finger”.
Osrin was tracked down after people in the neighbourhood responded to Joni’s screams and took down his registration number, which contained the word SWIM.
In a brief appearance in court, he was charged with assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, and the case was postponed to November 27.
Then last week a Kenilworth sex worker laid a charge of assault against Osrin at the Claremont police station.
The woman, who asked to be named only as “Ethel” for fear of intimidation, claimed that in January this year Osrin had told her to “f*** off out of my street”, before hitting her so hard that he knocked a tooth out of her mouth. She also alleged that he grabbed and squeezed her breasts aggressively.
Ethel, 32, a mother of two, said Osrin had tried to drive his car into her a few weeks prior to the alleged attack – and continued to threaten her on several occasions afterwards.
Traut said the arrest of Osrin on Thursday related to “an incident in Kenilworth during January this year”.
Confirming that the charges were provisionally withdrawn due to a technicality, Traut said: “Two cases are still being investigated by the Claremont police. The cases stay the same. The appearance (on Thursday) was on the second case, where a person was assaulted in January this year.”
Keith Gess, who is representing Osrin in the case, confirmed late this week that Osrin reported to the Claremont police station and was arrested on charges of common assault, intimidation and sexual assault early on Thursday morning. Gess also confirmed that charges were provisionally dropped owing to Osrin’s presentation of an alibi.