The Alexandra Magistrates’ Court recently reinstated a business robbery case which was struck off the roll after the victim of the crime repeatedly arrived late for scheduled hearings.
The victim, a Somali shop owner, arrived at the hearing late twice and it was presumed that he had difficulty in understanding court processes and the importance of punctuality in court hearings.
As a result, the accused, an Alex man, was released from detention and will now be served with a warrant to reappear in court on a date to be specified.
The suspect had been arrested after a failed robbery of the victim’s shop on 6th Avenue on 5 November last year.
At the first hearing, the court heard that at 7.30pm on the day, the accused and his accomplice allegedly entered the shop where other customers were present, and allegedly pretended to look for a product on the shelf. After the other customers had left, the accused was said to have drawn a gun and demanded money from the shop owner. The shop owner pretended to oblige but before doing so, switched off the lights. This scared the two suspects who ran out of the shop.
Two hours later, the gunman was alleged to have returned to the shop alone and found the victim seated outside his shop with two relatives. The suspect allegedly pointed the gun at them and threatened them with a bottle he had in his hand.
The victim then grabbed the gun and the relatives helped restrain the accused before calling the police. The accused was arrested and the gun, which turned out to be a toy gun, was sent for forensic testing to ascertain if it had been used in other crimes.
The second suspect is still at large.
