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Police
ordered to pay compensation
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A PRETORIA advocate and his wife have won the
first leg of their legal battle for compensation against police after an
off-duty policeman tried to hijack them four years ago.
Judge Cynthia Pretorius yesterday declared the minister of police liable for damages suffered by Advocate Gerhard van Rooyen, 39, and his Ukrainian wife Natalia as a result of the 2009 incident. The minister was ordered to pay R93 347 to Van Rooyen and R34 517 to his wife, plus interest dating back to August 2009, for the cost of their psychological treatment and Van Rooyen’s past legal expenses.The rest of their R2.2 million claim was postponed indefinitely and will be determined later. The couple were sitting at the lookout point at Fort Klapperkop when two men stopped next to them and Const Romeo Mahlake, an off-duty railway policeman, pointed his service pistol at Van Rooyen’s wife. Fearing for their lives, Van Rooyen fired a warning shot in the air and heard the attacker firing a shot as well.He drove off, called an ambulance, and went to the police to lay a charge of attempted hijacking. Van Rooyen was arrested for murder and released on bail the next day, but the Director of Public Prosecutions declined to prosecute him.Mahlake had previously been charged with pointing and discharging his service pistol after an incident at a Sunnyside nightclub in 2007. The case was withdrawn and Mahlake’s firearm returned to him. This after he and the bouncer who laid the charge privately “settled” the matter. No inquiry or disciplinary proceedings were ever held in connection with Mahlake’s actions or his fitness to possess a firearm. Judge Pretorius said Mahlake had been known to act irresponsibly when using his firearm and it was reasonable to have expected the police to hold an inquiry. She said it was of no consequence that Mahlake had been off duty as his employment had provided the means to commit the crime. By Ilse de Lange The Citizen 17/05/13 |
Saturday, March 1, 2014
Crimes of the South African Police Service
