Cape Town – Diep River police officer Stephen Jan said State witness Keenan Thomas "never had any misgivings” about his statement to the police.
This was heard in the Western Cape High Court yesterday as the defence team for accused wife killer Rob Packham started presenting their case.
Jan, who was the commissioner of oaths on Thomas’ statement, said Thomas also never returned to the police station to make a supplementary statement that he had not been happy with the first one.
Previously Thomas and his friend, Lance Govender, who were the first people to arrive at the scene at Diep River railway station where Gill Packham's blazing car was found, alleged they had seen Packham close to the scene in his white Audi SUV.
The defence took issue with the description Thomas had given police describing the suspect he had seen as “a mix between white and coloured aged between 30 and 35”.
Thomas identified Packham at a photo identity parade at the Hout Bay police station and when he took the stand in court about two weeks ago, he pointed out Packham as the man he had seen on February 22, the night Gill’s body was found in the boot of her burning car.
He said that on the night in question Packham wasn’t wearing spectacles.
Jan said Thomas had made the statement with a colleague (Laubscher) at the Diep River police station, where it was typed out by Laubscher and saved to a memory stick.
“(They) then came to my office where the statement was printed to hard copy form. After printing the statement, Laubscher noticed on the second page that my details were on there. He then asked me to help with the commissioning of the statement, which I did,” he said.
According to Jan, they had asked Thomas if he was happy with how the details were recorded for his official statement and Thomas agreed.
The trial will resume on April 15, with Packham expected to take the stand in his own defence next month.