Johannesburg – A tale of deceit and desperation is unfolding at the Palm Ridge Magistrate’s Court, where two men who are accused of conspiring to murder are attempting to get bail.
Michael-Dean Merrington, 28, is accused of being the mastermind behind the attempted murder of his wife of three years, Aldrige.
It is alleged that Michael-Dean hired 20-year-old Glen Cona to murder his wife - an attempt he did not have the guts to go through with.
And according to Cona’s older brother, Sifiso, Glen is not a criminal, leaving the only reason behind why, according to their family, he would agree to be part of such a scheme - the promise of a job.
It is believed that Cona and Merrington met when the former was standing at a traffic light, begging.
“We are all very shocked by this. He has never been one to get arrested for such big things. None of us in our immediate family have been involved with such crimes. But it’s because of this that we believe he did this without a choice,” Sifiso said.
Sifiso further explained that Cona dropped out of school after being constantly teased about having 12 fingers, and he struggled academically.
He had made ends meet over the years by begging and doing odd jobs.
Sifiso said their family were unemployed, with them relying mostly on his part-time gardening job that he went to three times a week.
To get to the Palm Ridge court from his home in Lehae and support his brother, Sifiso has to catch eight taxis.
“Coming here has been difficult, because I spend almost R70 per trip. I want to support him, but I can’t stay off work for too long,” Sifiso said.
During his brief court appearance before magistrate Giuseppe Martini, Merrington’s lawyer, Riaan Meyer, made an impassioned plea to have the bail application continue because he felt his client’s constitutional rights were being infringed.
The defence and the State also could not agree on what schedule the crimes committed fell under.
Merrington and Cona cut lonely figures sitting in the dock.
Merrington sat in the dock, staring ahead blankly, while Cona relied on the translator to keep him abreast when proceedings sometimes moved too quickly.
The magistrate, however, postponed the case as he had another matter to preside over, something that Meyer was not happy about.
He later told The Star that his client was entitled to a fair trial, and the numerous postponements were not allowing this.
“The State say it’s not in the interest of justice to release my client, but they are not explaining why. This isn’t right. The magistrate is the protector of the constitution, and courts act as the place we go to have the constitution upheld,” he said.
“The idea of a fair trial begins from bail applications, and I feel my client needs to be given the chance to try and get bail fairly.”
The matter was postponed to March 8. The case has been forwarded to the Director of Public Prosecutions to determine what schedule the crimes fall under.