Guilty of murder and sentenced to 15 years imprisonment.
This is the ruling that the Ezakheni Regional Court made yesterday when Estcourt man Faizel Drew appeared on a charge of murdering Ladysmith resident Joe Uraj Ahir. Mr Ahir was found dead in his bed on April 7, 2014 after what appeared to be a heart attack.
A post mortem revealed that Mr Ahir was beaten and had severe head injuries. This lead police to open a case of murder and two of the suspects aged 24 and 36 suspects were arrested.
Faizel Drew, however remained evasive for over a year but was tracked down by Estcourt police in Fordsburg in April 2015. He was arrested and charged and the trial resumed.
Police spokesperson Warrant Officer Basheer Khan summarised the main points of the investigation.
“It was determined that the three accused had stolen R1 000 in cash from the deceased in order to buy drugs. They then beat him to death with a bottle after which they staged his body in his bed to make it look as if he had died from a heart attack. During the trial the 24 and 36 year old pleaded guilty to assault with intent to commit grievous bodily harm earlier this year, and were sentenced to three years imprisonment which was suspended for five years.”
The final accused in the case, Faizel Drew was sentenced yesterday. The case was investigated by Sergeant Dave Waremenhoven of the Ladysmith Detective Service.
