Blunden no stranger to dock
Owner of bus company appears in court with bandage on head
ABANDAGE covered the cut on Blunden Coach Tours owner Shaun Blunden’s head when he appeared in court yesterday after an alleged altercation at his mother’s home which landed him behind bars and his former brother-in-law in ICU with a gunshot wound at the weekend.
Blunden, 52, was arrested on Saturday afternoon for allegedly shooting his sister’s ex-husband, Deon Williams, 51, in the stomach.
A domestic dispute between Blunden and his niece, Kaylin Williams, became heated and turned violent when her father Deon tried to intervene.
Making a brief appearance in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court yesterday, Blunden stood in the dock wearing a black padded windbreaker.
A white adhesive bandage covered a cut on his forehead he allegedly sustained when he was hit with a blunt object. It is, however, not clear whether this happened before or after the shots were fired that wounded Williams.
The state is opposing Blunden’s bid for bail and his case was postponed until tomorrow for a formal bail application.
He will be held at the Humewood police station until his bail proceedings are finalised.
His attorney, Paul Roelofse, said they did not want to comment at this stage, but did refer to some injuries Blunden allegedly sustained on Saturday.
“My client has 10 stitches in his head and has some bruises and scratches on his neck, seemingly from being assaulted.
“We do not want to comment on the merits of the case, and more information should come to light during the bail application,” Roelofse said.
Blunden is, however, no stranger to the dock as his involvement with the anti-crime organisation People Against Drugs and Violence (Padav) landed him in hot water multiple times in the late 1990s.
Padav was established around August 1996 when a group of Port Elizabeth citizens came together to fight against gangs running rife in the city’s northern suburbs.
The group at times worked closely with the police and were often praised for their crimefighting initiatives.
Other times they were branded as vigilantes, openly fighting against the gangs, with many of their members being arrested for shootings, assaults, public violence and damage to property at alleged drug posts, liquor stores and nightclubs.
Blunden, one of Padav’s founding members, was arrested in 1996 on charges of intimidation and assault with the intent to inflict grievous bodily harm, and later in 1999 on charges of robbery and public violence.
He was never convicted.