Conspiracy trial: Phones tapped

2003-03-24 19:46

Cape Town - Police obtained special permission from a high court judge to monitor private face-to-face and telephone conversations after learning of an alleged plot to murder a magistrate, the Cape High Court was told on Monday.

The former captain of the police's Organised Crime Unit, Johan van Dyk, told the court he got special permission from the directorate for public prosecutions to investigate the alleged conspiracy to kill magistrate Wilma van der Merwe.

Six men, including dentist Shaheem (Doc) Ismail, and one woman are on trial before Judge Hennie Erasmus, for their alleged involvement in the alleged conspiracy.

One of the accused, Roy Vlotman, is in hospital in a serious condition, after suffering a severe stroke.

A judge's consent for the telephone monitoring was required in terms of legislation controlling police traps and the monitoring of telephone calls, Van Dyk said.

To obtain such consent, the judge had to be satisfied the matter was urgent, and that the information needed could not be obtained in any other manner.

After hearing during the monitoring process that Ismail needed money to obtain a firearm - with which to shoot dead the magistrate - the captain obtained permission to draw the money from police funds.

Photocopies of R50-notes

Van Dyk told the court he made photocopies of nine R50-notes, before handing the money to informant Allistair Kerridge, who had been in prison with Ismail.

Sketching the background, Van Dyk said in August 2000 a police inspector from the Fraud Syndicate Unit informed Van Dyk he was questioning Kerridge.

Kerridge had informed the inspector that the murder of Van der Merwe was being planned from Pollsmoor Prison.

Kerridge later confirmed to Van Dyk that Ismail had instructed Kerridge to oversee the murder by obtaining a firearm and securing transport to the magistrate's home.

At that stage, Kerridge was to obtain a firearm from Alivia Davids who is accused number three in the conspiracy case.

Van Dyk said Kerridge had been in prison with Ismail.

Van Dyk said the quality of tape recordings of telephone calls, or private conversations involving Ismail, was not always good, due to background noise.

Such tapes were often given to a police technical team to eliminate the background noise.

- SAPA