Rob Packham behind bars after 'breaching bail conditions again'
Cape Town businessman Rob Packham, who is charged with his wife’s murder, has been taken into custody after allegedly breaching his bail conditions for the second time.
Police confirmed on Wednesday that the former beverage company manager, who is due to go on trial in February, had been arrested.
The high court in Cape Town released Packham under strict conditions in September following an inquiry that found he had breached his bail conditions by contacting his former mistress, who is a state witness.
The businessman was caught on camera delivering flowers at the woman’s workplace, and she complained to the police that he was harassing her.
The court ordered the 57-year-old Constantia resident to deposit an extra R25,000 on top of the R50,000 he had already paid for bail.
It put him under virtual house arrest, allowing him to go shopping once a week and attend church once on Sundays. He had to report daily to the police and contact the investigating officer before leaving home and when he returned. He was also ordered to hand over all his communication devices.
Western Cape police spokesperson Sgt Noloyiso Rwexana told TimesLIVE: "Please be advised that a 57-year-old man was arrested this morning on a warrant of arrest." He is due to appear in the high court on Tuesday.
Eric Ntabazalila, the provincial spokesperson for the prosecution, said: "I can confirm that we will ask the court to withdraw his bail, as he has breached his bail conditions, and for him to be kept in prison."
Packham allegedly killed his wife, Gill, put her body in the boot of her car and set it alight at Diep River railway station in February.
According to the state, Packham was bust by licence-plate recognition cameras that showed him driving Gill’s BMW, while cellphone towers showed he drove around Constantia on the day of her disappearance.
Gill’s charred body was found in the boot of the car after firefighters extinguished the flames. A postmortem showed she died as a result of blunt force trauma to the head.
The alarm was raised when she did not arrive for work at Springfield Convent, a high school in Wynberg, where she was a secretary.