Cadet beaten up by instructor

2003-07-12 20:52

Johannesburg - A 24-year-old Graaff-Reinet Police Training College student has brain damage after allegedly being assaulted by an instructor, SABC TV news reported on Saturday.

The Independent Complaints Directorate (ICD) was investigating the incident in which Dean Hendricks, of Paarl in the Western Cape, was allegedly assaulted three weeks ago.

Hendricks, a BSc graduate, allegedly went to speak to the instructor who had slapped him during an argument after an outing. He was later found beaten and then hospitalised.

Hendricks' friend Natasha Stoffels said he was changed. He did not recognise her and "he is talking stuff that doesn't make sense".

Hendricks is being treated in a Cape Town clinic and was reported to be severely brain damaged.

The instructor had been transferred to a police station until the outcome of the ICD investigation.

- SAPA