Drive-by: Bail appeal dismissed

2008-09-05 20:52

Durban - Nothing stops three men accused of a Durban drive-by shooting from obtaining the names of witnesses and "their information" once released on bail, the Durban High Court heard on Friday.

Their application to appeal their having been denied bail last month was dismissed.

Judge Mohini Murugasen was handing down judgement in the appeal application made by the trio - taxi boss Duncan Arumugam, 33, Parvendran Perumal, 26, and Brandon Govender, 27.

In August the accused were denied bail by Magistrate Anand Maharaj at the Durban Regional Court, who cited intimidation and threats of eliminating state witnesses as some of the reasons for his decision.

All three are charged with one count of murder and three counts of attempted murder for a drive-by shooting in the Crossmoor area of Durban's Chatsworth suburb on April 10 this year.

Calvin Naidoo had been travelling with three passengers - Siboniso Mdakane, Isaac Koba and Ntombifikile Cele - when gunmen fired six shots at his luxury black Chrysler. Naidoo died on the scene while all his passengers were wounded.

During the bail hearing, Maharaj said eyewitnesses had placed all three accused at the scene of the crime and that the state had a strong case against them.

The court was told that a prison official had overheard the trio allegedly making plans to "eliminate witnesses in this case" while in prison.

In an affidavit, the prison warder said that Arumugam had telephoned a witness from prison and threatened that person's life.

In her judgement on Friday, Murugasen said releasing the three on bail may "jeopardise" further investigations.

"The motive for the murder is undoubtedly pertinent to a consideration of whether the appellants will attempt to threaten witnesses or intimidate them if released on bail.

"Although it has been argued that they have not been provided with the names of witnesses, this does not preclude the information from being sought or obtained by the appellants... there have already been allegations of police complicity and corruption."

She added that the shooting took place in a residential area and had endangered the lives of the public.

Murugasen said she could not fault Magistrate Maharaj in his finding that the "sense of security among residents would be undermined" if the accused were released on bail.

The accused would be back in the Durban Regional Court on September 30.

- SAPA