Krejcir assault could not have killed man, doctor testifies

A report on the News24 site notes that Dr Sifiso Ndlangamandla examined Bheki Lukhele a few days after the alleged assault. Under cross-examination by Annelene van den Heever, for Krejcir, Ndlangamandla said Lukhele could not have died from first degree burns he sustained on his head and the side of his face. Krejcir, Desai Luphondo, Warrant Officers Samuel 'Saddam' Maropeng and George Nthoroane, Jan Lefu Mofokeng, and Siboniso Miya face charges of attempted murder for the alleged attack on Lukhele. They also face charges of dealing in drugs and kidnapping. 'There was mild swelling on his face and head,' Ndlangamandla said, referring to his medical report on Lukhele. He said he observed no burns on Lukhele's chest, back, or shoulders. He said the burns could not have come from boiling water, only hot water. Earlier, Ndlangamandla said he did not suspect Lukhele had been tortured. Meanwhile, the proceedings were being held with a different set of police guards after the integrity of the members of an elite police unit guarding the court was questioned last week. This came after some of them were accused of influencing Luphondo into making an alleged confession of his part in the kidnapping, attempted murder, and drug dealing case. Full report on the News24 site

Police tried to hide the assault of one of Krejcir's co-accused, Desai Luphondo, the court was told, according to a report on the News24 site. Van den Heever said the police had deliberately kept a page from them which came from the police station's occurrence book. The entry stated that Luphondo had complained of being assaulted by police as they arrested him on 22 November 2013. The entry was made on the morning after the arrest. 'They deliberately kept the page from the defence... They tried to hide it,' Van den Heever put to Captain Bongani Nicholas Gininda, who was testifying in a trial-within-a-trial aimed at establishing whether Luphondo had been assaulted into a confession. Gininda took down Luphondo's confession several hours after he had allegedly reported the assault. Judge Collin Lamont warned Van den Heever on her line of questioning, suggesting the page may have been left out by mistake. He cautioned her on making a defamatory statement. 'You'll pay the damages,' Lamont said to her. Van den Heever, however, insisted that the only inference she could make was that the page was deliberately left out. The tension rose in the courtroom as Lamont and Van den Heever exchanged words. Lamont queried why Van den Heever saw it fit to question Gininda on matters he might have no answers to. Gininda was not based at the station where Luphondo had been held but had been called in to independently take his 'confession and admission' statement. As Lamont and Van den Heever argued, Van den Heever allegedly made gestures with her hands and eyes, leading to Lamont saying: 'These are the little things that you do that irritate me about you. It doesn't help to pull your lip and look at the sky.' It was not the first time that the judge and the blonde-haired lawyer had been at loggerheads. Lamont said her questioning was irrelevant to the witness. Looking straight at Lamont through her glasses, Van den Heever defiantly told the judge she was entitled to question the witness on this point. Gininda told the court that he did not know of any assault on Luphondo, adding that there was no assault which had taken place in his presence. Full report on the News24 site