Bulls prop Roux granted bail
Mon, 30 Aug 2010 18:30
In trouble: Bulls prop Bees Roux
Blue Bulls prop Bees Roux was granted R100,000 bail by the Pretoria District Court on Monday, after he allegedly beat a metro policeman to death.
Jacobus Stephanus 'Bees' Roux spent the weekend in jail after he was arrested on Friday following the murder of 38-year-old Tshwane metro police officer Ntshimane Johannes Mogale.
He intended pleading not guilty to charges of murder and driving under the influence of alcohol, the court heard. The matter was postponed to October 15.
Wearing a grey jersey, Roux stood in the dock with his hands clenched. The courtroom was packed with Tshwane metro policemen, some of whom had to sit on the floor.
Roux's defence counsel asked for bail of R5,000.
"I have no intention to live the life of a fugitive," Roux told Magistrate Desmond Nair in support of his bail bid.
Defence attorney Rudi Krause told the court Roux had no previous convictions and was not a flight risk.
However, the State asked for bail of R20,000 because of the nature of the crime.
Nair pointed out that Roux was accused of a Schedule Six offence and not Schedule Five, because a law enforcement officer was involved. According to Schedule Six of the Criminal Procedure Act an accused can only be granted bail if they show "exceptional circumstances" exist to do so.
Krause said these were the State's not opposing bail initially and that the contents of Roux's first statement were not in dispute.
In setting the bail amount, Nair said the court could not ignore the fact that the accused had the means and the funds to travel overseas and that he done so in the past.
According to an affidavit from Roux, he had previously travelled to Ireland, France and Australia to play rugby. He also had a bank account in France containing 5,000 euros as he had played there for three months in 2008.
His annual income was around R850,000.
It emerged on Monday that Roux's credit card was used at a McDonald's fast food outlet at the time he was supposed to have been in custody.
Roux was arrested in the early hours on Friday. Mogale's body was found lying in Schoeman Street, Pretoria, with head injuries at 3am on Friday. He had reportedly earlier pulled Roux over for suspected drunk driving.
Sapa
Contact Us | Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Advertising
