Ex-Hawks member jailed 11 years for selling police gear, stealing evidence, losing a firearm

A former Hawks member has been sentenced to 11 years of direct imprisonment for selling police uniforms and ammunition, taking dockets and evidence from cases and losing a firearm.

Esmeralda Bailey was sentenced by the Bellville Commercial Crimes Court in the Western Cape after her conviction on corruption, possession of drugs, four counts of obstructing the administration of justice, and the loss of a firearm.

Bailey’s criminal activity started to fall apart after Cape Town-based Captain Cathline Japhta received information that there was a person selling police uniforms, firearms, and ammunition.

Trap set up to capture Bailey

A trap was set up, with Constable Gelderblom as the agent identified to carry out the trap. Gelderblom was given R4 500 to buy the goods.

National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) regional spokesperson Eric Ntabazalila said that at the time of the trap, Bailey and her friend Waleed Diedricks, who became her co-accused and later a state witness, stayed in the same block of flats in Brooklyn, Cape Town.

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“Gelderblom met Diedricks in the company of another man. Diedricks confirmed that he knew of a person who had a police uniform to sell. Diedricks and Gelderblom left for the seller’s residency but didn’t find the uniform. Gelderblom told Diedricks that he would buy the uniform for R2 000,” Ntabazalila said.

“Diedricks asked Bailey if she could sell her uniform for R2 000, and she agreed. Diedricks went to report back to Gelderblom, who increased the offer to R4 500 if the accused would sell him a full police uniform and ammunition.”

Police operation watching trap

Other police officers were watching from the sidelines as the deal was being worked out in the car, and Diedricks was going up and down to check in with Bailey regarding the price.

At some point, Gelderbloem followed Diedricks and saw him entering Bailey’s flat. The team of police officers observed Diedricks leaving Bailey’s flat with a red bag in which she had packed the uniform and ammunition.

Bailey’s trap was ultimately set when Gelderblom opened the bag and found a police cap, a reflector jacket, a pair of police socks, a police shirt, two sets of police trousers (medium), and a couple of different calibres of ammunition.

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Diedricks was arrested; he confessed to the crime and pointed out that he sold the uniform on Bailey’s behalf, and she was arrested.

According to Ntabazalila, the police also found her with tik, leading to her arrest for possession of drugs.

Bailey took dockets to her house

Bailey’s charges for obstructing the administration of justice stem from her taking a docket from a member of the Asset Forfeiture Unit who was working on a forfeiture of a motor vehicle involved in this docket. 

The docket and other exhibits related to the docket were found by the police in her house on 13 December 2011. The police also recovered a docket of an armed robbery and hijacking and another docket of armed robbery on 9 December 2011.

The last charge for obstructing the administration of justice relates to Bailey taking a cellular phone, which was an exhibit, under the pretence that she was going to download information from the cellular phone. She never did, and the police took it back from her.

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The loss of a firearm charge comes from her taking a firearm from Kensington Police Station to be sent for ballistics in Platekloof.

“Senior State advocate Xolile Jonas, who called 11 witnesses to prove the state’s case, called two witnesses on this charge: Ms Alicia Hendricks, who worked at the ballistics, and Mr J van Tonder, who worked at Kensington Police Station dealing with exhibits. Advocate Jonas presented evidence proving that the accused was the person who took the firearm from the police station and took it to ballistics. He proved that she brought and fetched the firearm from ballistics but never returned it to Kensington Police Station,” Ntabazalila said.

11 direct years of imprisonment

Bailey was sentenced to 11 years direct imprisonment for corruption, six months direct imprisonment wholly suspended for four years for possession of drugs, two years direct imprisonment for four counts of obstruction of the administration of justice, and 36 months direct imprisonment for the loss of a firearm. The court ordered the sentences to run concurrently, so the effective sentence is 11 direct years of imprisonment.

“Even though the wheels of justice turn slowly, impunity no longer prevails, and those with dirty hands know that now it is a matter of when the dreaded knock on their door will come,” Western Cape Director of Public Prosecutions advocate Nicolette Bell said after the sentencing.