INDEPENDENT NEWSPAPERS
The five men accused of the alleged attack of British rugby fan Brett Williams. File photo: Jacques Naude
Durban – Lawyers acting for the “Kings Park five” charged with the murder of former Royal Marine Brett Williams at the stadium in March expect Friday’s court appearance to be quick.
“We will be in and out early,” said Jacques Botha, who is representing brothers Kyle and Blayne Shepherd.
The brothers will appear in court 10 in the Durban Magistrate’s Court building along with their fellow accused Andries Jacobus “AJ” van der Merwe, Dustin van Wyk and Grant Cramer.
It will be their third court appearance since their arrests for what the investigating officer, Warrant Officer Anand Pillay, described during their bail application as a “pack attack” on Williams, a visitor from Britain who was attending the rugby match between the Sharks and the Rebels that evening.
“We believe the matter will be adjourned for further investigation,” said Botha.
“One important piece of evidence for both the State and the defence will be the blood alcohol level of the deceased which will indicate the level of his intoxication. This could take up to eight months to get back from the laboratory.”
Cramer’s attorney, Johan Jooste, said the defence was still waiting to be advised when it would get copies of statements in the docket. Once it had, the matter would be adjourned again to set a trial date.
“The State will decide whether or not the trial will be held in the regional court or in the high court. I believe, because of the seriousness of the offence and the public interest, that it will choose to serve an indictment for the high court.”
At the last court appearance, there was speculation that Cramer might be used as a State witness. That was because he was charged only with assaulting Williams and he was named, along with his girlfriend, Kirsten Cooper, the sister of Sharks rugby player Kyle Cooper, as one of the witnesses whom the other accused were warned not to communicate with as part of their bail conditions.
Asked about this by The Mercury, Jooste said on Wednesday: “His status (as an accused) is unchanged.”
He said, however, his client’s life had been dramatically affected by the charges.
“He has lost his job. He was a sales representative and the firm he worked for said the publicity was too bad.”
The lives of the Van der Merwe family have also changed since March. The family bakery and superette on The Bluff, which had been operating for decades, has shut. The family have also moved out of their home.
Their lawyer, Malcolm Lutge, said “it’s totally unrelated to the case,” declining to comment further.
According to media reports, Williams’s fiancée and the mother of his baby, Lailah, Louise Scott, intends coming to South Africa for the trial.
The Mercury
