Judge gives
tardy cop a tongue lashing
2
February 2017, 09:00am
Bert
van Hees
Cape Town – A police official who missed court proceedings on
Monday, because he woke up to find that his lover had gone to her place of
employment in his car, leaving him without transport, landed in the prisoner’s
dock himself on Wednesday – for arriving at the Bellville magistrate's court
late.
On Monday, when Constable Louis Hartnik failed to attend the
proceedings before magistrate Constance Nziweni, prosecutor Daniel Cloete
“rolled” the case to Wednesday, but warned him by cellphone that a warrant
would be issued for his arrest if he again failed to pitch.
He was again nowhere to be found when the case was called on
Wednesday, and the arrest warrant was duly authorised, for immediate execution.
As it turned out, he was in fact on his way to court, but stuck in heavy
traffic.
On his eventual arrival, he had to step into the prisoner’s
dock, instead of the witness stand, to explain himself. Fortunately for him,
the court accepted his reason for being late, and cancelled the arrest warrant
.
However, a further gremlin – the absence of the defence attorney
this time – caused the case involving Denzil Davids, charged with the unlawful
possession of a firearm, to be postponed to February 28.
The lawyer had had to go to the Eastern Cape, where a family
member had taken ill.
The magistrate warned the constable, sternly, to ensure that he
arrived at court not later than at 8:30am, when the case resumed at the end of
the month.
