Rape-accused ex-magistrate denied bail again

A former magistrate facing rape, kidnapping and other charges in a partly heard trial in the Windhoek High Court is to remain in custody after his third attempt to be granted bail failed. It would not be in the interest of the public and the administration of justice to release ex-Magistrate Jaco Kennedy on bail, Judge Marlene Tommasi said, according to a report in The Namibian. Kennedy has been in custody since January 2016, when he was arrested on a charge of rape for the second time in 13 months. His trial began before Acting Judge Kobus Miller in April 2021, when Kennedy denied guilt on 10 charges, consisting of five counts of rape, two charges of kidnapping, a count of attempted murder and two charges of attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice. Tommasi said she was concerned about the length of time Kennedy has been held in custody after his arrest and the delay in finalising his trial, but noted that delays in his trial have been caused not by the state but by intervening applications made by Kennedy. The state is alleging that Kennedy and a co-accused, Raymond Cloete, kidnapped a woman in Windhoek on 3 January 2015 and raped her. Kennedy alone is also charged with having kidnapped and raped a second woman in the city on 31 December 2015, after he and Cloete had been released on bail on the charges they are facing in connection with the first incident. Kennedy applied to be granted bail in 2016, after his second arrest, and also before Tommasi during 2020, when his case was already pending in the High Court, but both applications were dismissed. Kennedy and Cloete are scheduled to appear in court before Miller again on 16 October.