Emotions ran high on Wednesday as the Randburg Magistrate's Court delivered judgment in the case against the man who allegedly caused the death of Top Billing presenter Simba Mhere.
As Magistrate David Mahango recounted evidence led in court throughout the trial‚ Mhere's sister Valerie could be seen crying. Her mother‚ Angela‚ looked down with her eyes closed.
On the other side of the packed courtroom‚ the mother of Preshalin Naidoo‚ the man accused of causing Mhere's death‚ also wept while listening to Mahango reading her son's evidence.
Naidoo has pleaded not guilty to counts of culpable homicide and reckless and negligent driving. He has argued that a mechanical failure had caused the accident. He denied he had consumed alcohol prior to the incident.
This is despite witnesses' evidence that Naidoo smelt of alcohol and that his mother was seen removing a bottle of vodka from his car at the scene.
Mhere and his friend Kady-Shay O’Bryan‚ who was a passenger in the car Mhere was driving‚ died at the scene of the accident on William Nicol Drive in Fourways‚ Johannesburg‚ on January 31‚ 2015.
Judgment continues.
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