Cape Town – The Spanish dentist accused of murdering his three-year-old twins in his rented holiday flat in Hout Bay, Cape Town will not receive any special treatment.
The request by his lawyer, William Booth, to have him housed in a single cell was denied in the Wynberg Magistrate's Court on Tuesday.
Mario Yela is accused of murdering his son and daughter while exercising his visitation rights during the Easter school holidays.
Booth told the court that Yela was constantly interrupted by correctional services officials while in consultation with his psychiatrist, Tuvich Zabow.
Pollsmoor Prison, where Yela is being held, is also overcrowded and conditions are not conducive to healing, the court heard.
Yela was injured, allegedly while in police custody, and Booth's earlier request to have Yela remanded to Victoria Hospital under police guard was denied.
The murder accused had written a letter to prison authorities to complain about his accommodations, saying he couldn't sleep because of the noise and his fellow awaiting trial inmates smoked, State prosecutor Louise Freister Sampson said.
Yela, 48, was remanded to Pollsmoor's hospital section.
Magistrate Goolam Bawa postponed the matter to May 10.