Accused sex pest is tearful in the dock
A suspected UK paedophile‚ facing 21 counts of indecent assault‚ appeared briefly in the Randburg Magistrate's Court today for his extradition hearing. The man‚ who cannot be named because of the nature of the charges which he has not pleaded to‚ struck a lonely figure in the dock‚ wearing a grey and red lined tracksuit top.The accused‚ arrested in Randburg last month‚ had been on the run since the 1980s when he fled the UK where he committed his alleged crimes.Crying when he spotted his wife and step-daughter seated in the courtroom's public gallery‚ the elderly man declined magistrate Pravina Ragoonandan's offer of a few minutes to compose himself."I have been like this all morning. My blood pressure is up and down‚ I have fainted twice. I will not be able to stop the tears‚" he told her‚ insisting that he was fine to continue with proceedings.Ragoonandan‚ acceding to state prosecutor Jacqui Steyn's request for a postponement - as certain extradition documents were outstanding - postponed the case until December...
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