MBOMBELA – A fraud accused is struggling to attend his many court proceedings due to double-bookings. Not only did another double-booking in court have Mr Derek Poole miss one of his scheduled appearances last week, but some of his next ones have also been postponed to the same day.
Poole faces several charges of fraud and one of assault in the Hazyview, Nelspruit and Wynberg, Gauteng courts. Previously his appearances in Nelspruit and Hazyview clashed and he forfeited his bail of
R2 000 due to not appearing.
On Thursday he was again due in both of theses courts at the same time. He had attended the proceedings in Nelspruit where his trial was postponed for the umpteenth time until June 26.
In Hazyview a warrant for arrest was issued due to him not appearing, but he showed up at court later the same day. The fraud charge relates to a complaint made by Ms Carol van der Westhuizen of GAP Tours who alleges that Poole owes her about R25 000 for a group safari. The arrest warrant was cancelled and the case postponed to July 31.
The following day, Poole reappeared in Wynberg where he faced four charges of fraud. The case was postponed to Monday (yesterday) and a trial date was set for June 26, the same day he is next due in Nelspruit.
Here Poole faces a charge of fraud for allegedly defrauding his former business partner Mr Victor Pitchers out of R150 000 and a charge of assault for allegedly hitting his former landlord Mr Louis-John Havemann.
