Fire causes delay at Pinetown Magistrate’s Court
The magistrates court had to be cleared so that fire fighters could check the building after the small blaze was extinguished.
ALL court matters had to be stood down after a small fire started in a toilet on the first floor of Pinetown Magistrate’s Court on Monday morning (3 February).
People were all asked to leave and escorted from the building shortly before 11am after people alerted officials to the smell of smoke. People also described smoke in the passages near courts G and E, although the fire was out by the time the fire department arrived on the scene.
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According to a news report, the fire department inspected the building before declaring the area safe and found a pile of timber in the men’s public toilet where it is thought the fire originated.
One of the cases interrupted by the chaos was the first court appearance of a man who had posed as a soccer coach allegedly to lure young boy who allegedly raped. The man was apprehended by members of SAPS Pinetown Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Unit (FCS) last week Thursday.
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Court is expected to resume this afternoon.
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