Panayioutou passport takes centre stage

Murder accused Christopher Panayiotou File photo

Murder accused Christopher Panayiotou File photo

Published May 26, 2015

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Port Elizabeth - Legal jousting was the order of the day in the Port Elizabeth Magistrates Court as both the state and defence interrogated each other's submissions in the gripping bail application of Christopher Panayiotou.

Panayiotou is making a bid for bail having been implicated as the alleged mastermind behind the abduction and murder of his school teacher wife Jayde.

Court proceedings only got underway at 2pm on Tuesday after several postponements relating to a new affidavit put to the court by the state.

Panayiotou's advocate Terry Price asked for time to deal with allegations contained in the affidavit which related largely to Panayiotou's Cypriot passport.

In his response Price said the state was blatantly misleading the court about Panayiotou's passport.

He says that the passport was issued in 2013 and not 2015 as contended by the state and that it was in the possession of the Cyprus Consolute in Pretoria.

“ It's a blatant lie to tell this court that Mr Panayiotou has a Cypriot passport in his possession. It simply is not true, “ said Price.

Earlier in his response Price slowly picked away at the states version even accusing them of using Panayiotou's affair as a motive for murder out of desperation.

He also accused the state of influencing Thando Siyoli, the alleged middleman in the hit to make accusations against Panayiotou.

On the state’s contention that Panayiotou should not be granted bail because he could interfere with witnesses and destroy evidence, Price was particularly brutal. “He only deleted material that was of a sexual nature from his phone because he did not want his affair with Chanelle Coutts to be revealed. It doesn't prove anything. As for the witnesses, there aren't any! Give us a list of witnesses and we will undertake not to go anywhere near them,” said Price.

As Price delivered his salvos against the state, Panayiotou's family seated in the front row showed small signs of approval.

But Panayiotou looked straight ahead, occasionally adjusting himself in the dock.

When Price did finish, state prosecutor Marius Stander began his response using a long time to explain the issue of Panayiotou's passport which seemed to be the major bone of contention.

“Why didn't Mr Panayiotou play open cards with us? He could have simply told us that he had applied for a Cypriot passport but had not fetched it, but he didn't, “ said Stander.

Though not as animated as Price, Stander, in his orange framed glasses, then began unpacking several legal case studies supporting his argument that Panayiotou should not be granted bail.

He was beginning to go through his heads of argument when court proceedings were halted.

The matter will resume at 9am on Wednesday with Stander continuing before Price is given an opportunity to respond.

Magistrate Beaton will then have to make a ruling on the matter.

IOL Mojo

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