Weekend Argus (Saturday Edition)
‘Petrol bomber had no intention to kill’
AUSTRALIAN chartered accountant Shumsheer Singh Ghumman, sentenced to an effective nine years behind bars for, among other charges, trying to hire a hitman to kill the father of his love interest Hannah Rhind, may have intended to damage the Rhinds’ home, but had no intention to kill.
This was the argument which Ghumman’s advocate, Francois van Zyl SC, put forward in the Western Cape High Court yesterday during Ghumman’s appeal against his convictions and effective nine-year sentence.
In February last year the Cape Town Regional Court convicted Ghumman of incitement to commit murder, attempted murder, fraud and malicious damage to property. Ghumman had pleaded guilty to the malicious damage to property charge.
The court found that Ghumman pretended to local journalists that he was a freelance photojournalist looking to do a story on hardened criminals. He found Siyabulela Yalezo who, the court found, he incited to carry out a hit on UK businessman Philip Rhind, by offering him R10 000.
The plan was however foiled when Yalezo went to Rhind’s Clifton home to warn him. But in January 2011, Ghumman decided to carry out the plan himself, petrol-bombing the Rhind home.
Ghumman was sentenced in May last year.
He now wants the incitement to commit murder, attempted murder and fraud convictions overturned, and the sentence set aside.
On appeal, it is his contention00 that he suffered irreparable prejudice because the magistrate who presided over his trial allowed hearsay evidence as to what Yalezo had told them to be admitted as part of the proceedings. The State had given assurances that Yalezo – the source of the hearsay evidence – would be called to testify. However, when Yalezo took the stand he deviated from his sworn statements, which explained his dealings with Ghumman, and did not confirm the evidence of the earlier witnesses. Yalezo was arrested for making a false statement.
Van Zyl said the petrol bomb was flung on to a “fairly large” patio, about 3m from the door. In addition, the Rhinds slept on the other side of the house. Judges Anton Veldhuizen and Nape Dolamo have reserved judgment in the appeal.