Cape Town - Western Cape High Court Judge Patrick Gamble has dismissed an appeal lodged against the refusal of bail by a Mossel Bay man charged with murder, robbery with aggravating circumstances and housebreaking with intent to steal.
The man, Jean-Pierre Coetzee, had hoped the court would overturn a November 2021 magistrate’s ruling on his bail.
The magistrate found that he had not shown exceptional circumstances which would allow for bail as per Schedule 6 offences under which he had been charged.
Schedule 6 offences include planned or premeditated murder.
Coetzee then filed an application for leave to appeal against the refusal of bail in the George Circuit Court during February 2022.
Judge Gamble said it was unclear what became of that application, but the matter eventually came before him on August 2.
The judge said he was satisfied that the magistrate who denied Coetzee bail had properly considered all the relevant facts and circumstances and he was unable to conclude that her decision to refuse bail was wrong.
The facts before the magistrate were that Coetzee, a homeless, unemployed man with a history of substance abuse was linked to the crime shortly after it occurred and now faced life imprisonment if not a lengthy term of imprisonment.
The judge said a further factor counting against Coetzee was that the investigating officer was of the view that the case against him was a strong one.
He was said to have been seen driving a car belonging to his victim, 76-year-old Fanie Oosthuizen, by a woman friend of Oosthuizen’s who also knew Coetzee.
The woman suspected that something was amiss and tried to apprehend him. An argument ensued when she tried to grab the car keys and Coetzee sped off.
She then alerted police, who with the aid of a locksmith accessed Oosthuizen’s flat where Oosthuizen’s body was found in the bathroom.
The ederly man had been tied up with a rope and post-mortem report confirmed suffocation.
The judge said Coetzee was arrested later that night, still in the car, with his co-accused and a stash of the deceased’s property. The police found blood on his clothes which were sent for DNA analysis.
“There can therefore be no doubt that there is a prima facie case for the appellant to answer,” Judge Gamble said.
The judge said that the release of such a person on bail would not be in the interests of justice and would constitute a travesty of justice.
In his plea to the judge, Coetzee had said he needed to assist his German national girlfriend with their twin sons, one of whom was sickly and required brain surgery.
The judge said that as far as the twins were concerned, Coetzee’s girlfriend was a foreign national who comes from a European country with a sophisticated welfare and health system.
He said: “Should she be unable to manage with their care in this country, she does have other viable options in her home country.”