Magistrate warns about faulty charge sheet in Sheldon Terry fraud case

After five months, the fraud case of accused Sheldon Terry returned to the Booysens Magistrate’s Court on April 8, which again postponed it, now to May 22.

When the case was postponed on November 7 last year, the court said the date for the plea and trial would be April 8. However, when the day came, the court found that the charge sheet had been improperly drafted.

State prosecutor Bikwa asked for more time to consolidate all the information needed.

The defence, led by Advocate Roets, opposed the postponement, citing that the unreasonable delay would infringe on the accused’s rights.

“We have had several postponements. On the eight occasions when the matter was supposed to sit for a trial, I was not here once because I was sick. It is troubling that, after all these years, we don’t have a proper charge sheet.

“The court must be decisive, and justice must come fast. The accused suffered financially because of these delays, and his name was tarnished in the newspapers. The State knew it would not continue today. It is a systematic delay.

“Please, strike this case off the roll, let the State get its house in order and then place the case back on the roll,” he said.

Magistrate Vele said the defence and State didn’t comply because there was no pre-trial conference in this matter.

“A lot of things have not been properly done. There must be a properly drafted charge sheet. I don’t know why the State wanted to continue without the pre-trial conference. Unfortunately, this matter was not in my hands only; other presiding officers handled it as well,” he said.

Roets confirmed that, according to his instructions, there was a pre-trial conference on April 24, 2024, and the court had trouble with the charge sheet because it was full of amendments in handwritten notes.

“I am the officer of the court and trying to assist it to reach a just decision. It is unfair that the accused must be subjected to another postponement,” he said.

Vele said he could not evoke Section 342A without the notice for the inquiry to be conducted. However, Roets interjected that on March 1, 2022, the court was warned that Section 342A would be evoked.

Although Vele indicated he was displeased with how the matter was handled, Bikwa said they could not draft the charge sheet without a Section 236 statement.

“This matter was dumped on my lap, and I discovered that a crucial document was missing. I accept the criticism that we should have contacted the defence. The court must grant the adjournment with conditions,” she said.

Vele concluded by saying he agreed with the defence that there was a delay in this matter. He said the court had not moved from its position that the notice had to be issued before Section 342A could be evoked.

There will be a postponement subject to the following conditions: The matter must proceed on the next date, check everything is in order, and the State must have its house in order and be ready to arrange the trial date, failing which Section 342A will be evoked.

On April 23, 2024, Vele confirmed they had added two more accused (in the form of businesses) to the charge sheet: Astrodon (Pty) Ltd and Centrec Trust Financial Services.

Terry is the sole director of both. He first appeared in court on December 21, 2021, and is out on R5 000 bail.