Cops charged with murder still on duty

THE six police officers charged with the murder of Port Shepstone restaurateur Leanne Douglas after her car was shot at nearly two months ago, are still on duty.

According to the Sunday Tribune, the SA Police Service said it’s not up to them to suspend members of the force. The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (IPID) was reported as saying it’s a management issue.

At the time of her death, it was reported that policemen in three cars were chasing Ms Douglas, and that two marked SAPS vehicles had joined the chase.

It’s alleged that just before the Umkomaas off-ramp police shot at the tyres of Ms Douglas’s car. Her car veered across the highway and landed on the southbound carriageway.

It has been reported that moments before her death, she lay near the crumpled remains of her car, and is said to have begged for help and reached out.

According to the article, the paramedics arrived nearly half an hour later. In that time her car is said to have been dragged up the road by a towing company owned by a relative of an officer involved.

The newspaper said that its alleged that falsified accident sketches and countercharges of attempted murder against Douglas then came to light. There was no mention of shots fired over police radio channels.