THE four men accused of the brutal murder of Luke Edwards on April 9, are set to appear at the Umlazi Magistrate’s Court tomorrow (July 4) for an official bail application after their initial appearance in court on June 30.
The suspects, Lloyd Ramsbottom, Banele Mseleku, Jean Pierre van Niekerk and Njabulo Brandon Dlamini, along with Edwards, were patients at the Tetelestai Recovery Centre (TRC).
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Linda Edwards, Luke Edwards’ mother, called for the maximum sentence for the accused. She said, “If the reports we heard are true, what they did to my son is horrible. Anyone, or any rehabilitation centre that thinks they can beat psychosis out of a patient should bear the brunt of the law. It has been incredibly difficult to cope with everything that is going on. I’m angry at the TRC and cannot understand why they did not call us when Luke was starting to get aggressive.”
She added that her son was extremely intelligent, having achieved a B.Com in economics. He was an avid chess player and was proficient in Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. When he first checked into rehab voluntarily, he was clear of any drugs apart from marijuana. She explained that tiny things affected him and set him off, leading to strange behaviour which ramped up to psychosis.
Updates to follow after the accused appear in court.
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