Port Shepstone cop found not guilty
The state found that the evidence was of poor quality.
A PORT Shepstone policeman and his two co-accused who have been on trial for assault and attempted murder, were found not guilty on all counts at the Durban Regional Court on Tuesday this week.
Sergeant Aniel Dalwat (32) from Port Shepstone and Chatsworth policemen Constable Yogandran Munsami (23) and Warrant Officer Jerry Abraham (36), pleaded not guilty to an attack on Morganathan Naidoo, Sedhasivan Maistry and Noel Sebastian last year.
The policemen were on trial for attempted murder, assault, housebreaking, defeating the ends of justice, malicious damage to property and contravening the Animal Protection Act for kicking adult dogs and a litter of pups.
The state had alleged that the policemen manhandled the men, and struck them with a broomstick to destroy evidence. The brutal attack was captured on CCTV camera, and the video footage, sourced from the SABC news site and Youtube, showed men dressed in police uniform storming the home of one of the victims.
Defence attorney Paul Jorgensen, instructed by attorney Nasser Ally, bought an application at the end of the state’s case on Monday this week, on the grounds the state’s evidence was of “poor quality”.
According to the Daily News, attorney Jorgensen argued that there was very little evidence implicating his clients in the December 2012 incident.
Regional magistrate Fariedha Mohamed said the witnesses were evasive, hesitant, and came across as untruthful, contradicting their own versions of the incident under cross-examination.
