SECUNDA – A man who caused an accident in which another died and his friend seriously injured before running off, has been found guilty and fined R25 000 on Tuesday, 23 October.
Mr Wayne Stallbaum (52), a resident from the Cape, was found guilty of causing the accident in which Mr Robert Wilson died on 30 July 2016. He left his car and fled the scene after the accident.
Mr Wilson and a friend, Mr Christiaan Prinsloo, were parked next to the R580 Road between Secunda and Evander near the turn off into Walter Sisulu Drive.
Mr Prinsloo was helping Mr Wilson move and they were on their way to return the rented trailer, when they stopped next to the road.
Both men were outside the car, apparently working on the trailer, when Stallbaum, coming from Secunda, smashed first into the trailer, then hit the men and the car.
Mr Wilson died on the scene and Mr Prinsloo was rushed to Mediclinic Highveld, before being transferred to Milpark Hospital later in the day.
His injuries included a fractured shoulder, facial fractures and severe injuries to his legs. His one leg was eventually amputated.
Stallbaum left his vehicle at the scene and fled after the accident. He handed himself over to the police the following day.
At the time, Mr Wilson’s wife Anne, told the newspaper she has lost her husband and best friend. Their son died four years earlier, two days short of this accident.
The Secunda Magistrate’s Court slapped Stallbaum with a fine of R25 000 or a prison sentence of 25 months on a charge of culpable homicide.
He was also fined a further R20 000 or 20 months’ imprisonment suspended for five years on a charge of reckless and negligent driving.
Stallbaum’s license was not suspended.
