Convict hides knife in his anus
Published: 2013 June 22 15:06:38 (4993 Views)
In the first case of its kind, a full bench of the Grahamstown High Court has ruled that the police cannot be held liable for the consequences of not carrying out a full-body cavity search of a suspect before locking him up.
Mlandeli Dickson Yanta, of Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape, sued the Minister of Safety and Security for damages after his son, Melikhaya Samson Yanta, was stabbed to death in the Fort Beaufort police cells.
The lawyers agreed to ask the court for a ruling on liability before continuing with the lawsuit.
Judge Dayalin Chetty said there was no case law in South Africa on this point but that Canadian law had proved helpful.
The man who stabbed Yanta to death, Vuyane Qhalo, admitted that he had hidden the murder weapon in his anus.
It was agreed in court that Qhalo had been subjected to a standard external body search, which included examination of his limbs, his torso and his clothing, including his shoes, by the police.
There were no metal detectors at the police station when he was arrested.
"In my judgment, a cavity search would only be justified when an arresting officer has reasonable cause for believing that [the person arrested] was concealing evidence," Chetty said.
"It is untenable to suggest that the police should have foreseen the possibility that Qhalo had secreted the weapon in his anus."
Chetty said that, when making arrests, "the mere possibility that an individual might be concealing evidence or weapons upon his person is not sufficient to justify a strip-search".
He said it was not reasonably foreseeable, on the admitted facts, that Qhalo had hidden the knife in a body cavity.
"The fact that a metal detector was not used cannot per se constitute negligence. There was no metal detector at the police station."
- Timeslive
Mlandeli Dickson Yanta, of Fort Beaufort, Eastern Cape, sued the Minister of Safety and Security for damages after his son, Melikhaya Samson Yanta, was stabbed to death in the Fort Beaufort police cells.
The lawyers agreed to ask the court for a ruling on liability before continuing with the lawsuit.
Judge Dayalin Chetty said there was no case law in South Africa on this point but that Canadian law had proved helpful.
The man who stabbed Yanta to death, Vuyane Qhalo, admitted that he had hidden the murder weapon in his anus.
It was agreed in court that Qhalo had been subjected to a standard external body search, which included examination of his limbs, his torso and his clothing, including his shoes, by the police.
There were no metal detectors at the police station when he was arrested.
"In my judgment, a cavity search would only be justified when an arresting officer has reasonable cause for believing that [the person arrested] was concealing evidence," Chetty said.
"It is untenable to suggest that the police should have foreseen the possibility that Qhalo had secreted the weapon in his anus."
Chetty said that, when making arrests, "the mere possibility that an individual might be concealing evidence or weapons upon his person is not sufficient to justify a strip-search".
He said it was not reasonably foreseeable, on the admitted facts, that Qhalo had hidden the knife in a body cavity.
"The fact that a metal detector was not used cannot per se constitute negligence. There was no metal detector at the police station."
- Timeslive
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