Cape Town – A member of the 28s gang was jailed for eight years on Tuesday, for the possession of a prohibited semi-automatic firearm, possession of ammunition for it, and for pointing the firearm at a police official who was chasing him.
Court papers tell how the police official chasing him managed to strike the firearm out of the gangster’s hand, before the gangster could shoot him.
Matthew Alexander, 25, appeared in the Parow Regional Court, before magistrate Constance Nziweni, and pleaded guilty in plea-bargain proceedings, negotiated by the legal aid lawyer with prosecutor Daniel Cloete.
Alexander pleaded guilty to the possession of a prohibited 9mm semi-automatic firearm four years ago, in Milky way, Elsies River, on the Cape Flats.
According to court papers, Alexander used the firearm for his own protection, from attacks against him from rival gangsters. According to papers, he took fright when he saw the police approaching him that night, and fled on foot. When the police official chased him, he pointed his firearm at the official “to slow him down”.
The papers add: “The police official was too quick for him, and managed to strike the firearm out of Alexander’s hand.” The second charge of the illegal possession of an unlicensed firearm related to a .38 special revolver, which police found in his trouser pocket in January last year.
He pleaded guilty to five counts – two relating to his illegal possession of two different firearms, two of the illegal possession of ammunition for the firearms, and one of illegally pointing a firearm. In fact, he was jailed for 14 years, but effectively for eight years only, with sentences running concurrently.