Charges dropped against two Kempton ward councillors
The four have also instituted charges against Edenvale police officers, claiming police brutality.
Charges of assault and defeating the ends of justice were provisionally withdrawn against two Kempton Park ward councillors and two others in Edenvale Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.
Ward councillors Tracey Lourenco and Simon Lapping, as well as Lourenco’s daughter and sister, Samantha Nieuwoudt and Kim Smith, were accused of assaulting police officers at Edenvale Police Station on August 10.
The four have also instituted charges against Edenvale police officers, claiming police brutality.
The four had gone to Edenvale Police Station on the night of August 10 to follow up on another case when they witnessed police being aggressive with a young man who wanted to open a case against the metro police.
When Lourenco tried to film the incident with her cellphone, they told her she wasn’t allowed to. The officers allegedly tried to grab the phone out of her hand but she resisted.
They allegedly threw her onto the floor and started kicking and punching her. Her daughter managed to take her phone but the officers went to the daughter and took the phone out of her hand and dragged the two of them to the cells.
Eventually, all four were locked up until the early hours of the morning.
As a result of the incident, Tracey Lourenco suffered a chipped bone in her ankle and a detached ligament.
