'Springs Monster' sobs in dock from pain
The so-called Springs Monster sobbed bitterly in the high court in Pretoria dock while an expert testified about altered fireworks discovered in his home.
|||Pretoria - The so-called Springs Monster sobbed bitterly in the high court in Pretoria dock on Thursday while an explosives expert testified about six fireworks, altered by attaching nails to them, discovered in his house.
A family member told the Pretoria News the man, 36, was crying because he was in pain. It emerged the father of five was injured last week when a police vehicle taking him back to the Kgosi Mampuru II jail collided with a taxi.
He was injured and is complaining of a sore neck and shoulder. His face was swollen and bruised.
He was taken to hospital following the accident, but said he was still in pain. His loud sobs caused his family to call a court orderly during proceedings, to hand him a bottle of water. He then took some tablets.
His now estranged wife, who claimed she was also severely abused and beaten by him, looked in surprise at her husband when he started crying. It was said he ran his household with an iron fist and his wife and children were terrified of him.
The parents are facing a string of charges, including attempted murder of the 11-year-old and neglecting the children by allegedly subjecting them to an array of abuses. The man is also charged with repeatedly raping his teenage daughter.
The pair also face a charge of being in possession of illegal explosives. Several fireworks were found in the house - with nails attached.
The man said he did not know this was illegal, while his wife said he manufactured this in preparation of the “night of the long knives” - an event anticipated by some in the past where they feared an attack by blacks in the country.
Colonel Johannes Alberts, an explosives expert, testified that it was not illegal to own fireworks, but it was unlawful to alter them so that they posed a danger.
He said he found a suitcase containing fireworks - six with nails attached to them - in the house.
According to him, if fired, the nails would become shrapnel, which could cause severe injuries to anyone in the vicinity.
The trial was postponed to October 31 and will run until November 18.
zelda.venter@inl.co.za
Pretoria News