Pretoria - A man from Zeerust in the North West is due to receive R195 000 in damages from the police and the National Director of Public Prosecutions (NDPP) after he was arrested, all because his teenage brother was playing with a toy BB gun.
Hercules Venter, 32, turned to the high court in Pretoria following his nightmare ordeal when he and his family went to Fruit and Veg in Mafikeng in 2011 to buy supplies for an upcoming braai.
Venter drove in his bakkie to the store, with his “little” brother as a passenger. It is not stated in court papers how old the brother was.
The child was playing with a toy BB gun along the way. It later emerged that a motorist noticed the “gun” and called the police. He claimed that the gun was aimed at him.
Venter was subsequently arrested and taken to the police holding cells, but was later released on bail. However, it took more than seven appearances in court over the course of nearly a year before the State dropped all charges against him.
In this regard the NDPP was ordered by the court to contribute R45 000 towards Venter’s legal costs.
The charge against Venter was “pointing of anything which is likely to lead a person to believe it is a firearm.”
The court was told that on the day of the incident Venter was followed to Fruit and Veg by his parents in another car. His “little brother” played with the toy BB gun in the car.
When they stopped at the store, Venter took the toy gun from his brother and placed it in the glove compartment of the bakkie.
A Nissan bakkie meanwhile followed the family to the store. It later emerged that the driver of that vehicle was terrified at the thought that Venter was pointing a firearm at him while they were driving.
As the family came out of the shop and wanted to get into their cars in the parking lot, they noticed that a red bakkie had parked Venter in. Venter asked the driver to move his bakkie, but he said Venter had to move as the police were on their way. He also accused Venter of pointing a firearm at him.
The court was told that three minutes later, the area was filled with members of the flying squad who asked Venter to hand over his firearm. The police also searched the car but all they could find was the toy gun.
Venter explained that he never touched the toy and that his brother had played with it, but that it was never pointed at anyone.
The “gun” was handed in to the police's ballistics department, which confirmed it was a toy.
The complainant told the court he saw that a man driving behind him was pointing a firearm at him. He said he decided to follow Venter and alert the police.
In defending the fact that they had arrested Venter in the first place, the police reasoned that the BB gun looked like a real firearm.
Venter meanwhile said the incident was so traumatic that he had to receive psychological counselling.