Judge clears pair jailed for cash van killings over claims of police torture

21 December 2016 - 14:49 By Dave Chambers
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TWO men jailed for life for a Cape Town cash van robbery in which the driver and guard were killed have been cleared on appeal.

Xolisa Beja and Vuyolwetu Mahlombe were convicted in July 2014 after a Blue Downs magistrate said their confessions could be used as evidence.

But Judge Nolwazi Boqwana told the High Court in Cape Town that the statements should have been disallowed because it was possible police had tortured the men into making them.

“The court has a duty to ensure that accused persons obtain a fair trial and that evidence used to convict is properly obtained‚” she said.

The cash van driver and guard were shot dead in a failed attempt to rob their van at a petrol station in Eerste River in February 2011.

Police linked Beja and Mahlombe to the robbery through the car used by the attackers and arrested them two months later. They were convicted of murder and attempted robbery

In his warning statement‚ Beja said he had been contacted by a witchdoctor in Khayelitsha and told to pick up other people and rob a garage. Mahlombe’s statement also mentioned the witchdoctor.

Testifying in the Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court‚ Beja said he was assaulted in a police vehicle. “I was beaten with sticks and some planks‚ and then they put some spray inside the plastic and suffocated me. I was also being kicked.”

Later‚ at Bellville police station‚ he said “they assaulted me with a (tyre) that was cut‚ planks and a golf stick”.

Mahlombe said he was assaulted as he lay on the ground outside his house during his arrest. At the police station‚ he was beaten again and suffocated.

Boqwana said the fact that three police officers had subsequently noted injuries on Beja’s body and failed to investigate further compromised the reliability of his confession.

“The outcome of this (appeal) does not‚ however‚ detract from the heinous nature of the criminal conduct meted out against the deceased persons‚” she said. – TMG Digital/The Times

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