Bitter pet peeve over Pookie the pom ends up in court
A THREE-year-old Pomeranian is once again the subject of a legal tussle between murder accused Rajiv Narandas and his mother’s estranged lover.
Last week, Narandas secured a high court order to force Marco Accolla — who is his mother Rosanne’s business partner — to return a toy pom named Pookie to him.
Narandas — who is facing a murder charge for the fatal stabbing of Veenand Singh outside a Gauteng nightclub in 2008 — has been trying to secure Pookie’s return since August last year.
He filed an urgent application in the High Court in Durban against Accolla and Rosanne, claiming that her “boyfriend” had prevented him from having access to Pookie and another dog, named Max, while she was away on business.
Narandas said in the court papers that he had made a “loose arrangement” with his mother to share contact with the family dogs. His parents separated in 2008.
Accolla told the court at the time that Narandas had used Pookie “as a ‘football’ to terrorise, manipulate and obtain an advantage” over his parents and him.
The court action was shelved when Narandas attempted to mend his relationship with his mother.
But he claimed on Friday that he was forced to seek a court order against Accolla after he and Rosanne split recently and Accolla took Pookie with him.
“The dog Pookie has not been in the possession of my mother for some time. The dog was taken from her by Accolla. The dog is currently with him.”
Narandas said the sheriff of the court could not locate Accolla to serve the order on him last week.
“Accolla is now in contempt of court. The longer he takes, the worse for him,” said Narandas.
Accolla could not be reached for comment.