Attorney rapped over the knuckles for ‘inappropriate’ behaviour in Isis case

Allegations of an attorney’s “unethical” conduct torpedoed the bail application of alleged Isis acolytes and murder accused Sayfudeen Aslam del Vecchio and Fatima Patel in the Verulam Magistrate’s Court on Thursday.

The couple‚ at the centre of a high-level counter terrorism probe‚ are accused alongside their teenage neighbour Themba Xulu and cohort Ahmad Jackson Mussa of the murder of Britons Rod and Rachel Saunders.

All four now face murder charges on top of a raft of others including robbery with aggravating circumstances‚ kidnapping‚ theft and terror charges.

Magistrate Chris Annamalai openly dressed down attorney Nadeem Mohamed‚ acting on behalf of del Vecchio and Patel‚ for “consulting” with Mussa before his appearance. Annamalai said Mohamed was conflicted in that the fourth suspect‚ also known as “Bazooka”‚ had made a statement to police which incriminated Del Vecchio and Patel and he should never have entertained the consultation.

Mussa‚ who during his last appearance in court requested legal aid‚ appeared to have changed his mind and discharged the lawyer assigned to him by the court. Before his appearance he had engaged Mohamed and his legal aid lawyer while in the holding cells.

“The court so rules that the bail application for Patel and Del Vecchio be held over until the issues with Mr Mussa’s legal representation are sorted out. The court cannot proceed‚” Annamalai said.

“Your instructing attorney [Mohamed] went to the cells and communicated with a witness that gave a statement in conflict with your clients. Because of this inappropriate move we cannot go forward.”

Advocate Jay Naidoo‚ the lead counsel for the couple‚ said there had been nothing improper about Mohamed’s visit to the cells to see Mussa‚ and that when he’d realised he was conflicted he ended the consultation.

The matter was held over until April 25.

Startling allegations that the vanished couple‚ last seen in February‚ may have been stalked as a “good hunt” by Del Vecchio and Patel to "strike fear into the hearts of those opposed" to the caliphate‚ have already been aired in court.

An affidavit deposed by the investigating officer‚ which was submitted to the court on Tuesday‚ plotted out what may have been the Saunders’s final days‚ and gave grave insight into what might have befallen them.

According to the statement‚ police mined evidence of communication between Del Vecchio‚ Patel and a third man with the alias “Bazooka”. The communications stretched over six days after the Saunders’s were last heard from.

“On February 9 there are discussions of preparing to kill the kuffar [non-believer] and abduct their allies‚ to destroy infrastructure and to put fear in to the heart of the kuffar.

“On February 10‚ Del Vecchio had mentioned to Patel and Bazooka that there is an elderly couple in the forest‚ that it is a ‘good hunt’ and that they had equipment‚” the papers read.

In an unrelated discussion on the same day‚ the officer alleges that Del Vecchio had given “guidance” that the victims of caliphate fighters should be made to disappear.

“When the brothers in Kenya go out and do this work it is very important that the body of the victim is never found and that it remains a missing person case‚” the statement continues.

Financial evidence‚ as well as communication between the co-accused‚ detail how the Saunders’s bank accounts were accessed. The suspects are understood to have embarked on a shopping spree‚ buying drones‚ camping equipment and paintball guns from Cape Union Mart.

The mortal remains of the Saunders’s have still not been found. Police personnel‚ understood to be acting on a statement made by Mussa‚ have searched larges portions of the Tugela River.

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