Under the gavel at the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court: Couple appear to defend dog

In the Scottburgh Magistrate’s Court:

• A young man from Umkomaas made his second appearance on a charge of raping a child. The accused must undergo mental assessment before his bail application. He will remain in custody until his assessment is done in Fort Napier Hospital and will reappear on May 8 for a formal bail application.

• A young man, who claims to be a grade 11 pupil, first appeared in court at the beginning of March, accused of having stolen three litres of grass cutter oil worth just over R200. The case was postponed to March 27 and he was instructed to produce a letter from his school principal confirming that he was a pupil and was released on warning.

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He failed to reappear and a warrant of arrest was issued. He appeared again last Wednesday after police had fetched him from his home. When questioned as to why he had failed to appear, the accused said that he had arrived late and been told the court was no longer in session, so he had left. Magistrate Elsophie Botha told him: “Should you ever be late to court, the best thing to do would be to talk to a court official, be it the prosecutors, policemen on duty or even find a magistrate if you must, to find out about the right court procedures.”

The accused then apologised for his actions and said that he had been scared of what was going to happen if he came back to court after not attending. He had decided to rather wait for officials to come and get him. He was then granted bail of R200 and the case was postponed to May 9.

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• As a change from the usual run of drug and theft cases, a couple appeared in court defending their dog. A case had been opened against them by their neighbour, after their dog bit the neighbour’s dog. The incident was referred to as a ‘vicious dog attack’. The defendants were in the process of representing themselves, when the case was withdrawn.

• A young man, arrested for theft, appeared in court last Wednesday. He is believed to have stolen R9 000 worth of goods. His bail was set at R1 000 due to the high value of the items. The case was postponed to May 21.

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