Durban - A South African national, convicted of killing a 69-year-old pensioner in England, was slapped with a second charge of theft as he applied for bail in the Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
Glen Brian Galley had been due to apply for bail in a case where he is alleged to have stolen a saddle worth about R70 000 when another charge of theft for three knee boards was presented to the court.
Prosecutor Nqobile Malinga sought to have the case postponed to September 29 for a formal bail application, but Magistrate Terence Buthelezi rejected the application.
However, as the bail hearing was set to proceed on September 23, the case had to be adjourned as the building was closed down to allow fumigation to take place.
Malinga said she had needed the postponement to verify the authenticity of an unsigned document supplied by Galley’s legal team indicating that he was no longer on parole following his release in from a prison in Wales where he served 13 years for the murder of the 69-year old pensioner.
Galley’s lawyer Charl Claassen said the matter had been previously adjourned to allow the State to see if Galley had skipped parole, but that it had not done so.
It was an argument Buthelezi agreed with. “It is clear that the State has done nothing.”
But as the matter was set to proceed for a bail hearing on the initial charge, the note was handed to Buthelezi informing him that the court would be closed to allow fumigation to take place.
He postponed both cases to September 23.
According to court papers obtained by ANA, Galley was convicted in May 2002, for murdering a 69-year-old woman from whom he had borrowed £20 (R320 at 2002 exchange rates) while working for a taxi company.
The woman, whom he had transported, complained to his employers when he failed to pay back the money. They dismissed him and shortly afterwards she was found dead, having been kicked, pummelled and stabbed.
Galley was sentenced to life imprisonment but was released in February 2015.
It was not immediately known if Galley had been on parole at the time of his release. A response to questions had not been received from the British Ministry of Justice press office.
African News Agency