Bouncer arrested for assault

Keanan Soutar (20) had to undergo surgery on Monday night to repair the damage to his broken jaw after he was allegedly hit by a bouncer at Bourbon Street early on Saturday morning.

His mother, Phillipa, said that she was called to the club by her younger son. When she got there, she found her eldest covered in blood.

Her son told her the fight broke out between them and bouncers outside the club when he tried to defend his brother. He was rushed to hospital after he collapsed on the scene. Mrs Soutar stayed behind to wait for the police, who never came.

“They said that they didn’t have vehicles available. But when I drove there myself, I found four vehicles standing in front of the police station.”

The Middelburg Police have confirmed that a case of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm was opened.

The owner of Bourbon Street, Carlos Campanario, says that there has only been one incident at the club since it opened its doors and that was over the past weekend.

According to him four men were asked to leave after they started quarreling inside the club. Once outside, Soutar was the first to get in his car and leave.

Mr Campanario says that Soutar came back to continue the fight with the other parties involved. They waited for the Soutar brothers with an iron bar and hammer which they got from their company vehicle. The fight broke out far from the Bourbon Street premises, in front of Fruit and Veg. One of the bouncers, Rene van der Walt, tried to intervene according to Mr Campanario. The fighting men then turned on him.

“From there it is difficult to say who hit who. But the bouncers were basically acting in self defense because the guys came at them with pipes and a hammer. I cannot say who hit who.”

Mrs Soutar said that her son could not have had an iron rod because his one hand is broken and in a sling. His hand was injured during a previous fight in Pretoria.

She says that the doctor concluded that her son was injured because of blunt force. The family claims that the bouncer had a knuckle duster with which her son was hit. Bourbon Street owner Mr Campanario says that he carries no knowledge of such a weapon being used.

On Wednesday night, Keanan Soutar accompanied by his parents and police, went to Bourbon Street to point out his attacker.

Rene van der Walt was arrested and later released on R1 000 bail. He appeared in court on Thursday morning and faces a charge of assault with the intent to cause grievous bodily harm.

“The arrest was unfair. The police only got one side of the story. They claim that the guys were sober, they were not,” says Mr Campanario.