State says defence closing argument in Miguel Louw murder trial is 'smoke and mirrors'

The state, in the case against the man accused of killing Sydenham schoolboy Miguel Louw, says the boy's uncle Mike had no motive to kill him.

This after accused Mohammed Vahed Ebrahim's defence team questioned why the boy's uncle  wasn’t investigated for the child's death. They claimed that he, like Ebrahim, had a motive because of his shared relationship with the boy's mother, Raylene.

During his closing arguments on Friday state prosecutor Kelvin Singh said that the defence's argument was a “whole lot of smoke and mirrors”. 

“Mike has been safely excluded. There is no evidence of any animosity between Mike and Raylene, in fact, he had been to the house to see Raylene before Miguel’s disappearance. Had he been seen with the deceased in July then I would have a difficult leg to stand on,” said Singh.

Defence attorney Jay Naidoo began his closing arguments on Friday saying that there was no evidence that Ebrahim had forced Miguel to come with him to the KFC, where he was last seen alive.

Video footage from the store showed Ebrahim and Miguel entering the chicken franchise and buying food. The pair are then seen exiting the store with Ebrahim holding Miguel's hand. The pair cross the street and are last seen at the rear of a taxi.

According to Ebrahim he got into the taxi and left Miguel at the rank.

“There is not a single shred of evidence of force. In the video that forms part of the state's evidence it does not show any coercion. There is no evidence the deceased at any point tried to get away from the accused,” said Naidoo.

Ebrahim was arrested after the decomposing body of the nine-year-old was discovered in a ravine less than 100m from Ebrahim’s family home in Phoenix, north of Durban, in September 2018.

“The evidence which you must draw an inference (of the kidnapping) from ends in Sydenham. There is no evidence of the deceased alive in Phoenix. There is no evidence that you can draw an inference from safely,” Naidoo told the court.

The matter will be back in court on February 27 for the finalisation of closing arguments.