'Robbers' plead not guilty

2008-03-31 20:21

Grahamstown - Two men - accused of armed robbery - pleaded not guilty in the Grahamstown Magistrate's Court before Judge Clive Plasket on Monday.

Bruce Khona, 26, of Platini Area in Moses Madiba, Kirkwood, and Jimmy van Voor, 34, of Mesengeni, Kirkwood pleaded not guilty to the robbery, with aggravating circumstances, of a guesthouse owner.

The state alleged that on December 20 2007, the two men entered a guest house on a citrus farm at Dunbrody, near Kirkwood, and armed with knives stabbed and assaulted Donald Davis, 54, and robbed him of a VW Jetta and household goods valued at R59 525.

In their not guilty plea, both the accused, through their respective lawyers raised an alibi defence.

Khona claimed he was at work and Van Voor said he was at his home at the time the crime was committed.

Davis told the court he was at home lying on the couch and watching television at about 21:00.

"My German guests had gone out for supper and I was waiting for them to return. The back door in the kitchen was open as it had been very hot that day.

"I must have fallen asleep, but when I woke up I saw two men approach me. One had a knife and the other had something in his hand, but I could not see what it was."

Davis said the two men demanded money and firearms, then suddenly attacked him when he told them there was no cash or guns in the house.

"I grabbed the knife by the blade as one of the accused tried to cut my neck, and the other guy was trying to stab me with something. They managed to get a rope around my neck, and then they tied my hands to the noose," said Davis.

He told the court he was taken to the office, forced to the floor, and then his legs were tied.

"They ransacked the office and scratched around in the drawers, and then went upstairs. After a while I heard a car being started and driven away.

"About 10 minutes later, my guests returned and freed me and called the police."

Davis said he had been stabbed in the chest, stomach and back during the assault, and had also suffered a blow to the head from a blunt instrument.

The trial continues.

- SAPA