A former Durban sergeant, who is appealing is murder conviction, refuses to vacate a state-owned house in Malvern.
|||The Police Ministry has approached the Durban High Court to evict a former Wentworth sergeant, who was convicted of murder and dismissed from the police service, from a property in Malvern.
Brian James was convicted of the September 2002 murder of Simphiwe Kunene and sentenced to 10 years in prison by Durban Regional Court magistrate Thomas Nhleko in 2010.
According to evidence before the court, Simphiwe, 16, and his cousin Sandile Thusi had been on their way to buy spares from a Clairwood shop after their car broke down on the N2 highway.
Three men had approached the pair at an intersection and one of them threatened them with a gun.
James and another officer, Delon Bloem, had approached the men, causing the armed man to drop the gun and flee with his friends. James then fired shots in Simphiwe’s direction, killing him.
On Monday, when the case was called before Judge Dhaya Pillay, James, who is out on R3 000 bail pending an appeal against his conviction and sentence, told the court he was unsure of what was going on in the proceedings.
Judge Pillay told James that it appeared from the papers before court that he did not have an adequate defence, but he should file an opposing affidavit to make out his case.
In an affidavit before the court, Brigadier Keeran Nunkumar said James had been allocated to a state-owned property in Stella Road, Malvern in terms of the police service’s housing policy.
He said James was dismissed from the police service in August 2010 due to his conviction and sentence, and was no longer eligible to live at the property.
He said a notice to vacate the premises was served on James on February 3 last year.
“However, to date he (James) remains in occupation. The property has been advertised and other officers who would qualify for housing are being prejudiced.”
The case was adjourned to next month for James to file his opposing affidavit. - The Mercury