Exclusive photos supplied to Rekord are said to show injuries sustained by the Pretoria pub shooting accused in an alleged assault months earlier.
A source has supplied Rekord with exclusive photographs said to show Brian Wesley Smith’s injuries following an alleged assault about four months before the fatal Pretoria pub shooting.
Smith, 45, is accused of murder following the death of Baden Watson, 55, at Little Britain Pub in Waterkloof Ridge on October 10. Another biker, Ruan van der Merwe, was wounded.
The photographs accompany allegations of an earlier assault on Smith and a confrontation on the night of the shooting. The images alone do not establish when or how the injuries occurred, or who was responsible.
According to the source, members of the Macs Motorcycle Club allegedly confronted Smith at the pub on the night Watson was killed.
Smith allegedly asked to be left alone and said they would not beat him again as they had previously done. The source alleges that the confrontation continued before Smith fired.
This account is disputed by the club.
Macs representative Mannetjies Geyser said in a statement over the weekend that there had been no altercation before the shooting.
The competing accounts have not been established as findings of the court.
In the initial police statement, Tshwane police spokesperson Captain Johan van Dyk said an argument allegedly broke out between the suspect and the surviving victim before the suspect drew a firearm and shot him.
Police said preliminary information indicated that only one shot was fired and one cartridge was recovered at the scene.
Investigators suspect the bullet passed through Van der Merwe before striking Watson.
Officers found the surviving victim in front of the pub entrance, where emergency services were treating him. He was transported to hospital.
Watson was found inside, near the entrance, and was declared dead at the scene.
The suspect reportedly left on a motorcycle before being traced and arrested.
Police previously identified both victims as members of the Macs Biker Group, while Smith was reportedly affiliated with the Crusaders Biker Group.
Meanwhile, Smith’s bail application has been postponed until later this week following his second appearance in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday, October 20.
According to Maroela Media, prosecutor JP Liebenberg requested the postponement after discussions with the defence. He told the court that the state would not disclose the reasons discussed in open court, but agreed that a postponement would be in the interests of justice.
The publication reported that Smith’s bail application would be heard under Schedule 5 of the Criminal Procedure Act.
Following the shooting, Little Britain Pub banned motorcycle club patches from its premises with immediate effect.
The pub said it would remain bike-friendly and stressed that the restriction applied equally to all clubs, without assigning blame to any club or the wider biking community.
Also read: Biker killed, another injured in Pretoria pub shooting
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