Jayde's mom sobs during bail hearing

Published May 27, 2015

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Port Elizabeth - Christopher Panayiotou will have to wait until June 4 to know if he will be granted bail.

The State and defence closed their arguments in Panayiotou's bail application on Wednesday.

The 28-year-old stands accused of masterminding the abduction and murder of his school-teacher wife Jayde last month.

It is alleged that Panayiotou paid his employee Thando Siyoli R70 000 for the hit on his wife.

It is claimed Siyoli in turn secured the services of Sizwezakhe Vumazonke to carry out the job. Both men have also been arrested.

For the first time during the bail application, Jayde's mother Michelle Inggs and her sister Toni were in court.

Inggs occasionally stared blankly at Panayiotou as he sat in the dock. Her hands were clasped with Toni's during proceedings.

At one stage, Inggs broke into tears and sobbed quietly as details of how the State would prove their case against Panayiotou were revealed by prosecutor Marius Stander.

"We will show the link between Panayiotou, the middle man and the shooter,” said Stander.

Panayiotou's defence attorney Terry Price said that the State had "thumb sucked " a lot of the allegations against Panayiotou.

The key bones of contention in the application are whether Panayiotou is a flight risk and whether he has the ability to interfere with witnesses.

Magistrate Abigail Beaton said that she needed time to make her judgment and postponed the matter to June 4.

Panayiotou kissed his mother as he was led back to the holding cells. He will remain at St Albans prison until next Thursday.

IOL

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