DAVE Middleton will not be out of jail for the Easter holidays.
The former senior Hibiscus Coast Protection Services officer, who faces numerous charges, including rape, sexual assault and intimidation, appeared in the Port Shepstone Regional Court yesterday (Wednesday).
Middleton has now failed on four occasions to secure bail.
Just after Magistrate Kwazi Shandu announced that bail had been refused, Middleton, who was standing in the dock at the time, said loudly, ‘Oh geez’.
The court also heard that Middleton’s defence council had failed to obtain the transcript of the judgement of the bail appeal heard at the Pietermaritzburg High Court last year.
‘In conclusion, the court had not been persuaded that the new facts amounted to exceptional circumstances permitting the release of the applicant (Middleton),” he said.
Before handing down judgement, Magistrate Shandu dealt with all the six facts bought forward by Middleton’s defence council in court on Wednesday last week.
He said that although the witness statements didn’t allege any physical violence or threats from Middleton, this was not suddenly a new fact, and showed no relevance in the new fact bail application.
Magistrate Shandu said although there was no medical evidence to prove sexual penetration with regards to the second girl, this did not necessarily mean it could not be proved with evidence from the child.
He said that if the docket statement made by girl’s mother was not an affidavit, as previously submitted by the state, it did not necessarily mean she could not give evidence in court based on that statement.
He said the credibility of the origin of the pornographic photographs, the first girl’s mother, and the two child witnesses, were issues that would be best dealt with in a trial court.
Middleton will appear in court for ‘final discovery’ on June 13, and for trial on July 28.
