Pretoria - “We are happy the case is all over and justice was done. Now my son can pick up the pieces of his life.”
This is the response of Dawn Morris, mother of Leaan Peters, who was subjected to torture by police who falsely accused him of being involved in a hijacking.
Peters’ dream to become an international motor cycle racing champion was shattered after his humiliation and abuse. He has received psychological counselling to try to come to terms with what happened to him, and the counselling will have to continue for a long time, the court heard.
Acting Judge SA Thobane ordered the Minister of Police to pay Peters a total of R816 000 – R500 000 for general damages and R316 000 towards future medical expenses, which will mostly go towards counselling.
The taxpayer will have to pay for what the judge termed to be the “reprehensible” conduct of police officers who assaulted Peters who was 19 years old and in matric at the time.
The judge said although it is commendable that police conceded what happened was wrong and that they were liable for damages, it is still a “damning and a serious indictment on the state of policing”.
Peters’ good deed of giving a hitchhiker a lift came at an expensive price, as this led to two days of hell for him.
On August 31, 2011,the young Eersterus man was on his way to a fast food outlet in Silverton and gave a hitchhiker a lift. He dropped the man in Silverton and drove towards a McDonalds.
He was stopped by the Metro Police, who told him to get out of the car. His hands were cuffed behind his back and he was told that the man he had given a lift to was involved in car theft or hijacking.
Members of the SAPS arrived on the scene and Peters was placed in a police vehicle. They drove him around for hours, interrogating him about the man he had given a lift to.
The more Peters said he knew nothing about the man, the more he was assaulted. A Sergeant Naving Singh, according to evidence led in court, assaulted Peters in full view of the public. He also pointed a firearm at Peters’ private parts and Peters said he feared he would die.
The more he cried the more he was told to “stop crying like a bitch”.
He was taken to a remote railway line in Silverton, where a plastic bag was pulled over his head.
He was suffocated, kicked and punched.
His jaw was broken and when he was eventually taken to the police station, his parents had to beg the police to take him to a doctor. He only received pain medication and had to spend two nights in a police cell with a broken jaw.
When he was eventually taken to court, the prosecutor refused to prosecute him due to a lack of evidence.
His parents immediately took him to hospital, where he underwent an operation to his jaw. A plate and screws had to be inserted.
The court heard that Peters was once a role model in Eersterus due to his motor biking skills and he was known as “Van Damme”.
Pretoria News Weekend