Africa-Press – South-Africa. The trial of the man accused of shooting a policeman dead from the toilets of Sharp Shooters tavern in Cape Town will finally begin on Wednesday after a false start on Tuesday.
Judge Robert Henney was furious when told there were still some outstanding matters to attend to before Shane Swart’s trial could start on Tuesday.
He gave the State and the defence a tongue-lashing for wasting court time, given how full the roll is now.
“There are no judges,” said Henney. “That’s why I squeezed this matter in. I saw this was serious,” he said, as he warned that they were going to lose their trial date for this year.
This means they would have to wait in line for a trial date for 2024, an unhappy prospect given that the accused has been in custody since 2019.
“You had your chance – gone!
“If it wasn’t such a serious case, I would have struck this matter from the roll,” said Henney.
Swart will go on trial for the murder of Warrant Officer Hilton Joseph, 52, who was shot in the head, and the attempted murder of Constable Terrence Mostert, who was struck in the neck at the tavern in Wesbank on 8 September 2019.
They were at the tavern following up on information about a potential suspect in a double murder and car hijacking case police were investigating.
While they were searching, shots were fired by someone hiding in the tavern’s toilet, hitting Joseph and Mostert.
Swart was eventually arrested after the Hawks, the local police and the Anti-Gang Unit tracked him down. He appeared in court in Blue Downs initially.
Two other people were also arrested, but one was released because he could not be linked to the murder and attempted murder, and the case was withdrawn against the other person.
Swart has been in custody since his arrest.
He denies having anything to do with the shooting and, on Tuesday, there were hints that he would claim he was tortured in police custody.
After giving the defence and prosecution time to sort out the outstanding issues, such as a video, and other documentation, everybody returned to court at 14:15.
The two sides came within a whisker of having the case struck off the roll, but by their return after lunch, they appeared to be ready.
The trial is expected to begin on Wednesday morning.
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