A murder was committed - they all knew it and tried to cover it up.
That was the Western Cape High Court’s ruling on Tuesday as former metro policemen Kelvin Pillay and Tyrone Stewart were convicted of being accessories after the fact following the killing of Ebrahim Adams. They were, however, acquitted of his murder.
Stewart was also convicted of assaulting another man, Cheslyn Jacobs, who was also picked up on their patrols in Grassy Park and Lavender Hill on the night of the killing.
Adams was shot when Pillay and Stewart, along with other police officers, saw him running away.
The court heard that it was another policeman, Jason February, who had fired the fatal shot, but Pillay and Stewart were believed to have helped dispose of the body, which was later found in the veld off Baden Powell Drive near Strandfontein.
February has since died.
“(Stewart) saw the shooting and the others heard the shots so they all knew that (Adams) had been shot,” Judge MR Jakuja said.
“That is what speaks volumes in this case; the silence and inaction that followed after (Adams) was put in the van.”
She went on to say that, while the accused had testified that they believed they were on their way to the hospital instead of en route to dump the body, not a “single piece of evidence had been put before the court to say that the word ‘hospital’ was ever uttered in the van”.
“(Stewart) says (Adams’s) head was on his boots, but he did not lift a finger to see how he was doing or whether he was comfortable or not.
“The lame excuse that he gives us is that he is not trained in administering first aid,” the judge said.
“Who needs first aid to look at a person to see if his chest is rising up and down, to look at where the blood is coming from or the extent of the injuries?
“These are not ordinary people, these are policemen who, because of their position had a legal duty to render assistance to (Adams),” Judge Jakuja said.
She said that, even when Adams was taken out of the police van, no one tried to help.
“Instead, they stood by and allowed February to take him further down the embankment,” she said.
Judge Jakuja said that, at one stage or another, both men were involved in trying to cover up the murder.
“They could have driven to the nearest police station or even straight to Hillstar if their radio batteries were flat and (if) they wanted to report the incident.
“They did not do any of the above because they did not want to report the incident - all four of them,” she said.
Judge Jakuja also said the case was complicated by February’s death as it was “easy to shift responsibility on to him for everything”.
She also rubbished the policemen’s claims that they were too afraid to act against February because he was “out of control”.
Meanwhile, as arguments in mitigating and aggravating circumstances got under way, the families of both the men offered their condolences to Adams’s family.
Outside court, Adams’s aunt, Fagmia Ismail, said she was happy with the judgment.
However, she started crying as she spoke about her nephew, who had lived with her up until his death.
She said she hoped the men would be given lengthy sentences.
“Every night, after my prayers, I see Ebrahim’s face.
“He was not an animal.
“Had they just left him at the door of the hospital, it would have been okay,” she said.
Sentencing is expected on Thursday. - Cape Times
ayesha.kassiem@inl.co.za