I was fortunate - Mildenhall
2010-07-28 15:09
Johannesburg - Former Allan Gray auditor Stephen Mildenhall counts himself fortunate that his injuries were not more severe after being shot for merely doing his job, the South Gauteng High Court in Johannesburg heard on Wednesday.
"The man in a blue beanie asked me to come with... obviously I didn't want to do that... I backed away... as I was doing that, both men shot me," he said, testifying as the State's third witness in the trial of Glenn Agliotti, the accused in the murder trial of mining magnate Brett Kebble.
Mildenhall detailed how two, dark-skinned men, one wearing a blue beanie, approached him as he returned from work on August 31 2005, and shot him three times.
The men took his wallet and keys.
After the shooting, he fell to the ground and lay still until he heard the men drive away.
'A hit'
He then shouted to his wife who was inside his home. She rushed him to the Claremont hospital where he remained in the Intensive Care Unit for three days.
Agliotti is facing an attempted murder charge and a charge of conspiracy to commit murder relating to the Mildenhall's shooting.
Mildenhall was listed by Kebble as a person who needed to be "taken out of commission", as testified by the State's first witness, boxer Mikey Schultz.
Mildenhall told the court that he was shot three times in total and only found out afterwards that the crime was in fact a hit.
One of the men who shot him appeared to have a silencer on his gun, which led to Mildenhall having "second thoughts" about whether the incident was an ordinary hijacking attempt.
But his company, Allan Gray, probed the matter and deduced that there was nothing sinister about it.
Companies suspended from JSE
Mildenhall was employed by Allan Gray Limited, a registered investment portfolio manager, which held the investment portfolios of Kebble's JCI and RandGold and Exploration (R&E) mining companies.
Two Kebble companies, JCI and R&E had failed to comply with the listing requirements of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. They were subsequently suspended from the JSE for failing to release their financial statements on deadline.
Mildenhall was a party to meetings between officials of Investec Bank and JCI.
The Kebbles were seeking a loan for JCI to save it from possible liquidation. Mildenhall stipulated the loan requirements which included reconstituting the companies' boards and effectively removing Kebble's control over the companies.
On Tuesday, Nigel McGurk, hired by Kebble's head of security, Clinton Nassif, told the court how he and an accomplice arranged to pay two "coloured guys" R150 000 to shoot Mildenhall.
'Out of commission'
McGurk said his instructions were to put Mildenhall "out of commission" for two to three months and not to kill him.
This was done and Mildenhall's wallet was burned and his driver's licence was handed to Nassif as proof.
Mildenhall, answering questions by Agliotti's attorney, advocate Laurence Hodes, said he did not know the accused nor was he aware of the role he played in it.
"I only know that I was shot," he said.
He was further asked whether he had a "gripe" with Agliotti.
"I certainly have no gripe against him," he said.
He told the court that the shooting happened five years ago.
"Quite frankly, I want to put this behind me."
Mildenhall's testimony was over within an hour.
The State's fourth witness, Faizel Smith, also known as "Kappie", then took the stand and described how he hired two men from Cape Town to pull the trigger.
- SAPA