Gangster wins damages after police assault

Cops who allegedly beat Clever Kids gang members to get them to spill the beans on illegal gun trading could incur heavy costs to the minister of police.

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Cape Town - Bishop Lavis police, who allegedly beat Clever Kids gang members to get them to spill the beans on illegal gun trading could incur heavy costs to the minister of police.

The case could cast a shadow on the critical work being carried on by senior investigators tackling the source of firearm supplies to gangsters in the province.

The police officers’ conduct led three Western Cape High Court judges to order the minister to pay damages for injuries sustained by one of the gang members, Reagan Jonathan Baptist, as well as his legal costs. The amount has yet to be decided.

In a judgment handed down earlier this month, it emerged Baptist was at the home of former gang member Eugene Nefdt in November 2010 when a group of policemen forced their way in and demanded to know: “Where are the guns?”

The policemen pulled out batons and started beating them.

Nefdt and a former Clever Kids gang leader, Denver de Vos, were taken into a separate room and Baptist could hear De Vos screaming, the court heard.

Baptist testified other officers also used tools which they had used to break open the front gate of the house, to beat him.

His kneecap was shattered and he couldn’t walk after the assault.

Later, when an ambulance arrived, Baptist told medical personnel the police had assaulted him.

He said he did not lay a charge against the police because he feared gang members would mock him.

Nefdt also told the court they were accustomed to police brutality and accepted that there was nothing they could do about it.

The police, however, denied any knowledge of a raid at the property or an assault on the men.

They contended Baptist and the others had been assaulted by rival gang members instead.

At the end of the trial, the court accepted the policemen’s versions and dismissed Baptist’s claim.

However, he appealed to a full Bench, arguing the court failed to evaluate the evidence in detail and take into account the “consistent and corroborative nature” of the witnesses who testified in his support against the minister.

Giving judgment in the appeal, Judge Rosheni Allie said Baptist’s witnesses were consistent in their evidence about the assaults.

While there were minor discrepancies, this showed they had not been coached.

She said notes in medical records which were made when Baptist was treated for his injuries provided objective support for the assault allegations he made.

The police, however, produced no evidence of gang activity to support their contention the men had been assaulted by gangsters, Allie said.

She added that with the use of police records, it was easy for the officers to disprove Baptists’s allegations of assault.

“(The minister’s) election not to do so, together with his deliberately unhelpful bare denial, tilts the probabilities in favour of (Baptist),” she said.

The ministry had been notified of Baptist’s intention to institute an action and therefore had sufficient opportunity to preserve the necessary records, she said, adding that their failure to produce evidence to support their denial created the impression they were not entirely forthcoming with the court.

The court upheld the appeal and found Baptist had proved police unlawfully assaulted him and the minister was vicariously liable for the damages he sustained.

She also ordered the minister to pay Baptist’s costs.

Judges Vincent Saldanha and Kate Savage agreed.

Weekend Argus