Former cops guilty of penis size murder

Former policemen, brothers Brian and Leon Stevens have been found guilty of murdering four people in the 2008 pub brawl over penis size in Umbilo, Durban.

They have been remanded into custody until their sentencing at the Durban High Court.

The brothers opened fire on white patrons at the Merseyside Pub after a racial slur over penis size.

The accused were dressed in black as they sat in the dock, listened attentively as Judge Guido Penzhorn began reading his judgment, reciting the evidence that had been heard in the trial.

The pair have been found guilty of shooting dead Shawn Strydom, Nick Jansen van Rensburg, Rory Menzies and Bruce Edwards at the Merseyside Pub in Umbilo, Durban, on September 10, 2008.

At the time of the shooting, police said the argument began when a man made a comment about another patron's genitals at the pub's urinals.

During a previous court appearance, Brian Steven told the court that on the night of the shooting he went to the pub with his brother and two other men, Nithianandan Ganess and Naim Saddick.

A fight apparently started when Ganess claimed some of the men at another table had called him a "coolie".

"I approached the people at the table and asked him to show me who had called him a coolie. Ganess said no-one and I apologised to the gentlemen at the table," said Steven.

Shorty afterwards one of the men from the table said to him: "If you want aggression I will give you aggression.”

Brian said all of them, except Leon Steven, went outside where pushing and shoving started.

"I heard a gunshot inside. I wanted to fetch my brother. I took my firearm and forced the door open as there were people holding the door.”

Inside he saw white men around his brother, who was lying on his back on the floor.

"I went to pick him up. I got hit on the back with what I presume was a wooden stool and fell," Steven testified previously.

When he got up he picked up a firearm which he had dropped and fired a couple of shots.

"I did not know how many shots I fired. I stood up and went outside. It was a terrible scene."

Steven, who had been a policeman for 22 years, said it did not occur to him to tell people at the bar that he was a police inspector.