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Menlyn murder accused gets bail
22/08/2005 15:24 - (SA)
Pretoria - A teenager accused of fatally stabbing a man at the Menlyn shopping centre in Pretoria earlier this month was released on R500 bail on Monday.
The 17-year-old boy from Eersterus must report to the local police each Tuesday and Thursday, have no direct or indirect contact with witnesses and is not allowed to apply for any travel documents.
Pretoria magistrate Ansie Scheepers said he was a pupil who needed to attend school and she found no reason to think he would not stand his trial.
She said it would be to his own detriment if he tried to flee.
Juan Lee Olivier, 22, of Kameeldrift, was stabbed in the chest on August 13 in the Galaxy Arcade in the centre. He was declared dead when he arrived at the Pretoria East Hospital. Security video
The State called investigating officer captain Thomas Janse van Rensburg to testify in the accused's bail application. He said six people were willing to give statements on what had happened that night at the centre.
Janse van Rensburg he had watched the security video of the attack, showing Olivier returning from the bathroom at the arcade. The accused allegedly broke away from a group and tried to strangle Olivier, a student, with a cloth. A fight ensued in which the teenager allegedly stabbed Olivier in the chest.
Janse van Rensburg said the boy was apprehended by security personnel who also found a home-made knife with a six inch blade on him.
"The deceased and the accused did not know each other. There is also no evidence that the accused was provoked," Janse van Rensburg said.
He did not believe the accused was the only person involved in the murder, and more arrests might be imminent. Gang violence
He said the video showed how one person stepped away from a group to attack the victim.
"The accused was part of that group. I have often worked with gang violence in Eersterus. "If the accused was the youngest of a group, he could have been ordered to commit a murder. "It is important for me to find the rest of the group," Janse van Rensburg testified.
The court also heard that Olivier's family has received several phone calls of unknown persons, telling them to stop the case against the accused.
Janse van Rensburg opposed bail, saying the accused might interfere with witnesses or the other suspects. No previous convictions
State prosecutor Lucas Choma said the community was shocked by this murder and the release of the accused on bail could cause a public outcry.
Reginald Ally, the defence attorney, said his client was an unemployed pupil with no previous convictions or pending cases.
He lived with his mother and there was no basis for the State's allegations that he would not stand his trial or interfere with witnesses.
Ally said the threats to the Olivier family could not be blamed on his client, as the boy was in custody at that time.
Referring to fears of public reaction, the attorney said the Eersterus community raised funds to assist the accused and his mother with the court proceedings.
The boy will appear in court again on October 27. The case was postponed for further investigation.
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