The Alexandra Magistrates’ Court recently denied two men bail to enable further investigation into an armed robbery they are accused of committing.
The court heard that the men, age 33 24, who allegedly acted with an accomplice who is still at large, are accused of the offence against a man in Buccleuch at 10.30 am on 23 May as he was walking to a shop to buy airtime.
One of the men is said to have asked the victim for R5 and before he could answer, the man changed his request to R10. The court heard that when the victim said he had no money, the man asked how much he had on him and the victim told him he had R100 for airtime and nothing else to spare.
The accused then allegedly produced a gun and pointed it in the victim’s face, ordering him to lie down. It is alleged the gunman’s accomplices searched and robbed the victim of his wallet, R200, bank cards and two cellphones. The victim claimed the suspects also asked for his card pin number, but he gave them the wrong one. He said they then ordered him to leave the scene and he proceeded to the Buccleuch Police Station where he reported the incident.
Police took the victim by car to investigate, and in Marlboro, he spotted the robbers who ran off. However, the one suspect accused of wielding the gun was apprehended and the victim’s two cellphones were allegedly found on him. The cellphones did not have their sim cards in them. The accused then took the officers and showed them his alleged accomplices’ homes, but they weren’t there. The police later returned and found and arrested one while the other is still at large.
The two men were denied bail after it was found that one of them was out on parole and had a string of previous offences, including grievous bodily harm, aggravated robbery and theft. Their trial date will be set once the investigations have been concluded.
