Graft-accused cop claims he was working undercover
A Cape Town policeman accused of taking a R3 000 bribe from a suspect claims he accepted the money as part of his own undercover operation to nail the man.
|||Cape Town – The corruption case against a police officer, with 23 years of service, was postponed in the Belville Specialised Commercial Crime Court on Friday.
Closing argument is expected to commence in September. Warrant officer Shaun Davids, based at the Steenberg police station in Cape Town’s southern suburbs, appeared before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg.
The case was postponed to September 2, when Prosecutor Simon Leope is expected to give reasons why Davids should be found guilty, and Janine Boltman, for Davids would argue his innocence.
Davids pleaded not guilty to a charge of corruptly demanding R3 000 to release a suspect’s confiscated vehicle back to the suspect.
According to the charge sheet, Davids intercepted the suspect on the Cape Flats for the illegal possession of crayfish, and confiscated the suspect’s vehicle and cellphone.
The State alleges that Davids first requested R3000 from the suspect to release him on bail, which the suspect paid.
It is alleged that after the finalisation of the crayfish matter, Davids offered to release the suspect’s confiscated car back to the suspect, for an additional R3 000.
Instead of paying the second amount, the suspected reported the matter, and the Western Cape Anti-Corruption Unit (ACU) set up an undercover operation to trap Davids.
It was arranged for the suspect to pay Davids the second R3 000 at a Nandos outlet, and to wave his cap as a signal to police officials watching that he had paid the money.
After waving his cap, undercover police surrounded Davids, who was seated in an unmarked police Toyota Etios, and arrested him, the court heard.
Davids claims in his defence that the suspect in fact offered him a R3 000 bribe for the release of his vehicle.
He claims that he was arrested after he had accepted the money from the suspect – not as a bribe but as part of his own under-cover operation that he had set up himself to trap the suspect.
Davids was asked why he did not inform the ACU beforehand, about his plans to set up his own operation to trap the suspect, as the suspect paid the bribe for the release of his confiscated car.
He said he couldn’t inform the ACU, as he had already been arrested.
Another reason was that he was “exercising his right to remain silent”.
He was asked if he was aware that he could request assistance from the public, if he needed help in carrying out an arrest.
He said he was, but that the suspect in question was a known gangster, and members of the public would fear for their lives if they assisted.
Davids insisted that his sole intention was to “entrap” the suspect as the latter paid the bribe, and not to corruptly accept the bribe.
African News Agency