Police ‘led’ Van Breda, says lawyer

THE statement triple axe murder accused Henri van Breda signed – in the presence of police on the day his family was murdered – was riddled with “spelling mistakes and language errors”.

This‚ argued his defence counsel Piet Botha‚ was proof the statement was not a verbatim account of events his client had given to police.

Botha displayed the statement in court to show “mistakes” that had been highlighted‚ saying Van Breda would not have made the errors because he was proficient in English.

Earlier yesterday, Botha said the police had “suggested” details and “led” Van Breda in his statement.

But Sergeant Clinton Malan‚ who took down the statement‚ said the mistakes arose because English was his [Malan’s] second language‚ but that he had accurately captured Van Breda’s version of events.

Van Breda said he signed the statement because he was exhausted and wanted to leave‚ but asked: “Don’t I need a lawyer for this?”

He claimed that Malan responded with: “Why? Are you guilty?”

Malan‚ however‚ denied that this interaction took place.

He also denied Botha’s claims that his client was questioned under duress on an empty stomach while being held in an icy room.

Botha asked if Van Breda had been offered any food as‚ according to the accused‚ the statement had been given to police when he was cold‚ hungry and sleep-deprived.

On Friday‚ when the trial-within-a-trial began‚ to test if Van Breda’s statement was admissible‚ Judge Siraj Desai said that the police “actively starving or sleepdepriving” someone was a “form of torture”‚ and that this was therefore an extreme claim to make.

Desai said it was not the police’s fault Van Breda was tired and hungry.

“He was in that state when he got there‚” Desai remarked.

The trial continues.