BETHAL – A fifteen year old boy shocked everyone in the courtroom when he told the magistrate he is being grilled because he did not have access to expensive lawyers.
Enoch Nkosi was testifying against Mr Paul Makhado and Mr Trevor Friedman at Bethal Magistrate Court on Tuesday, 6 November.
Mr Makhado was said to have been walking with a vicious dog without a leash and as such attacked the teenage boy.
The boy told the court that he heard Mr Makhado saying saaa saaa, instructing the dog to attack him.
He further informed the court that he did not know the reason for Mr Makhado to send the dog to him.
During the cross examination, the boy lost his temper when the magistrate asked him several times how he kicked
the dog which was said to have bitten him on the side of the rib and also on his buttock.
“I used my leg to kick the dog.
“What do you think I used? Asked the boy agitated by the question being asked several times.
The magistrate told the boy she is not asking the questions to treat him bad, but to find the truth.
The boy responded by saying, “Because my family do not have money and white people have the money to hire
expensive lawyers.”
The pictures of the boy’s wounds were also shown.
The boy’s mother also had a chance to testify as a witness.
The woman told the court she was not happy because neither Mr Makhado who is a caretaker of the dog nor Mr
Trevor who is alleged to be the owner of the dog bothered to visit her home and check on how the boy was doing after he was injured by the dog.
Mr Makhado’s lawyer said his client is sorry for what happened, but the boy refused to accept the apology, saying
he should have apologized to him when he came back from the hospital.
After the mother’s testimony, both accused lawyers requested that their clients should not be put on the doc to be cross
examined.
Mr Friedman’s attorney asked for the magistrate to dismiss the case and cited the reason that the witnesses contradicted themselves.
The state prosecutor said both accused should be offered a chance to stand on the doc and be cross examined.
“The dog was known by the residents to be vicious and as such was supposed to be kept away from the public.
They should not have put it at the back of the bakkie,” said the state prosecutor.
The magistrate postponed the case for Wednesday, 21 November to rule out a decision as to whether the two accused will be offered a chance to stand for cross examination or not.
The same dog was said to have also bitten an elderly woman and other several people who were allegedly paid by the owner not to open cases against him.