Cape Town - One of the former Reddam House pupils at the centre of the violent scuffle that paralysed Camps Bay restaurant manager Andrew Merryweather in 2006 has been ordered to pay Merryweather a whopping R10.29 million in damages.
The order was made by Western Cape High Court Acting Judge Boet Smit on Friday. The former pupil, Oliver Scholtz, who was in matric at the time of the incident, was not in court on Friday.
However, while the substantial damages award brings the court process related to Merryweather’s saga to an end, it could be a much longer time before he actually receives any money.
Scholtz relocated to the UK after the civil action was instituted, although he is now believed to be back in Stellenbosch. Merryweather’s legal team at law firm Minde Shapiro and Smith said they would now hire tracing agents to find him, then enforce the order.
Merryweather said on Friday he was “elated” at the outcome.
“It’s a chapter that is closed. It’s a true moral victory,” he said.
He was, however, acutely aware of the difficulties that still lay ahead: “I suppose now the hard stuff starts.”
His attorney, Samantha Solomons, said the tracing agents would first have to find Scholtz.
If he was still in the UK, they would have to go through a court process there to have the order enforced. But the process would be faster if he was in fact in South Africa.
Commenting on the effects of the case, Merryweather said “it can get quite depressing at times”.
But the finality that came with yesterday’s order was a “weight off my shoulders”.
“I’ve got great things happening in my life now,” he said, adding that he went to Joburg two weeks ago to try out a walking suit, which helps him to stand and walk.
In July he is expected to jet off to the UK to try a similar suit which can also help him climb stairs.
In addition, he has attended various programmes as part of his rehabilitation.
“It’s amazing what I can do now. I’m a tetraplegic (paralysis below the neck) but people now assume that I am a paraplegic (paralysis below the waist),” he said.
Merryweather added that the amount awarded to him would enable him to pay for modifications to his home in Rondebosch to accommodate his disability. The ad hoc modifications done with the help of a relative could be significantly improved now.
The order also opened up therapy options, which were costly, with some of the best forms of therapy available only in the US and Europe, he said.
Merryweather was thankful for the support he received throughout the criminal and civil cases, particularly from his fiancée, Robyn Siebers, who he is due to marry in 2015. “She has been with me through all of this,” he said.
He advised others in similar positions to remain positive and to be proactive. “Things always get better. In your darkest moments, take comfort in the fact that it won’t get any worse than it is in that moment,” he said.
During the attack Merryweather sustained a severe injury to his spinal cord, for which he was admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital. He underwent a vertebral corpectomy (an operation to remove a portion of the vertebra and intervertebral discs).
Two days later a titanium plate was inserted into his neck.
After an 18-month trial, the Wynberg Regional Court acquitted Scholtz of the attempted murder of Merryweather.
Five others - Joel Thackwray, Liam Hechter, Michael Enslin, Justin Maxwell and Samuel Davidson - were also acquitted.
Thackwray was convicted of assaulting (with the intent to commit grievous bodily harm) Merryweather’s brother Nicholas, for which he was sentenced to six months in jail, suspended for four years.
The conviction was set aside in November 2010.
Charges against a seventh person, Shane Wolendorp, were withdrawn in 2007 after he turned State witness. The court acquitted Dane Killian in December 2007, at the end of the State’s case.
At the time, the men were pupils at Reddam House and Wynberg Boys’ High School.
Merryweather instituted the civil action against Scholtz, Hechter and Thackwray in 2009.
He abandoned his case against Hechter and Thackwray, but Scholtz could not be traced and Merryweather’s attorneys obtained a court order allowing them to serve notice of the action on him via publication in a UK newspaper.
The following year Scholtz was found liable for Merryweather’s injuries in a default judgment.
The case returned to court yesterday for the amount of damages to be decided.
Neither Scholtz nor his legal representatives were present.
Acting Judge Smit ordered Scholtz to pay the R10.29m, as well as the qualifying expenses of 10 of Merryweather’s expert witnesses. - Saturday Argus