Fresh inquest into Cape Town death of cricket legend Peter Roebuck 'a step closer'

The findings of an inquest which ruled that renowned cricket writer Peter Roebuck committed suicide in Cape Town are being reviewed.

The review‚ by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) in the Western Cape‚ raise the prospects of a fresh inquest‚ ESPNcricinfo reported on Wednesday.

• Sex-charge arrest sparked suicideFor Peter Roebuck, the only way out was through the window of his sixth-floor hotel room. Such was the desperation of the renowned cricket writer on the night of his death 15 months ago. 

The original inquest took place without any representatives of the former Somerset captain‚ writer and broadcaster or his family. English-born Roebuck‚ 55‚ was covering the Test series between South Africa and Australia in November 2011 when he plunged to his death from the sixth floor of the Southern Sun Hotel in Newlands after two policemen arrived to arrest him on a charge of sexual assault.

ESPNcricinfo said the inquest docket had been requested for review by DPP advocate Mornay Julius more than 18 months ago‚ but was said to have been lost.

It had been located this month. Roebuck’s employer‚ Australia’s Fairfax Media‚ and his family have pressed for a new inquest‚ saying they were denied access to forensic evidence from his hotel room‚ a toxicology report‚ fingerprints from the window the writer jumped from and his cellphone.

They are also unhappy about being excluded from the 2013 inquest. In 2015‚ Roebuck’s then 87-year-old mother‚ Elizabeth‚ said she had many questions about how her son died while in the custody of two police officers.

The family believes fingerprints from the window must be produced to prove he opened it. Before he jumped‚ Roebuck had appeared “very calm and in control of himself”‚ according to a police lieutenant‚ the only person to witness the suicide. Magistrate June Snayer found there was no evidence of a crime.

Affidavits describing Roebuck’s final moments are contained in the court record‚ and were the subject of a report in 2013 in the Sunday Times.

The writer had been in a good mood during the day‚ according to a friend who had dropped him off at the Southern Sun Newlands Hotel at about 8.50pm.

“We also spoke about plans for the future‚” Nicolas Kock said. The police arrived to arrest Roebuck at 9.15pm. Warrant Officer Aubrey McDonald of the family violence‚ child protection and sexual offences unit was accompanied by Lieutenant Richard Jacobs as an observer.

Jacobs was standing at the door and Roebuck was sitting in a chair next to the window when McDonald left the room to make a phone call.

At the time‚ Jacobs was handling his own cellphone. “When I lifted my head up‚ I saw Roebuck standing in the window. I screamed at him‚ but he jumped without looking back‚” he said.

McDonald said Roebuck acted soon after he had left the room. “I had not even had the chance to dial the number I wanted to phone.

I heard Jacobs shout the words: ‘Hei‚ wat maak jy?’ (hey‚ what are you doing?).” Jim Maxwell‚ an Australian cricket broadcaster‚ was staying at the same hotel.

A friend and colleague of Roebuck’s‚ he had been called by the writer to his room in the presence of the two policemen.

Roebuck had seemed on edge‚ although Maxwell had not expected him to take his own life.

The complainant in the Cape Town case was Itai Gondo of Zimbabwe‚ who had visited Roebuck in his hotel room five days before the suicide.

Gondo‚ then 26‚ alleged that Roebuck — who was sponsoring the studies of several young men who lived in a house he owned in Pietermaritzburg — lectured him on male bonding and persuaded him to strip down to his underwear.

“When he noticed that I was uncomfortable‚ he said: ‘No‚ there’s nothing sexual about it. It is about openness. That is what he and the other boys are doing.’

“He started hugging me... He took his pants off‚” Gondo said‚ describing how Roebuck then pinned him to the bed and molested him.

McDonald said when he arrived at Roebuck ’s room he had not mentioned Gondo’s name‚ but the accused had replied “that he knows this was about Itai”.

“I then placed Roebuck under arrest... Roebuck mentioned that he was well known in the cricket fraternity and that his arrest would be front-page news worldwide. He was concerned by this.”

- TMG Digital/The Times