Christopher Panayiotou’s legal team poked holes in the state’s case on Tuesday‚ accusing the police of underhanded tactics and the prosecution of misleading the court.
It also questioned the admissibility of the state’s key witness’s confession.
The businessman‚ 30‚ the alleged mastermind behind the murder of his wife‚ Uitenhage school teacher Jayde Panayiotou‚ 29‚ in April last year‚ is trying for a third time to be released on bail‚ this time based on new facts.
State advocate Marius Stander has not yet responded to the allegations.
He said he would first argue that the defence had failed to present any new facts to magistrate Abigail Beeton‚ who denied bail to Panayiotou in June.
Advocate Terry Price SC said he would set out to prove a “powerful and corroborated case of behaviour by the prosecution and the police which undermined every basic principle of right to a fair trial”.
He said they had shown a complete lack of respect for the law of the country and its constitution.
It is alleged Panayiotou paid middleman Luthando Siyoni to hire hit men Sizwezakhe Vumazonke and Sinethemba Nemembe to kidnap and kill the Riebeek College teacher.
He said in his affidavit‚ read out to the court by Price on Tuesday: “At the time of my bail application‚ I was forced to rely on the state’s contention that it had a strong case since I had no access to the police docket.
“Now that I have been given access to a large portion of the docket‚ I have discovered that the state’s case is certainly not as strong as they allege and…that the state misled the court during the previous bail application.”
Panayiotou also contended that:
- Stander misled the court by claiming Panayiotou’s mistress‚ Chanelle Coutts‚ and her best friend‚ Clarishka Kapp‚ had implicated him in their statements;
- Investigating officer Lieutenant Kanna Swanepoel continued to harass Coutts and Kapp for more information and threatened them with arrest should they not implicate Panayiotou;
- It had emerged that the man who visited him in prison after his arrest‚ offering to “assist” with his case by causing the docket to disappear‚ was a police informant;
- Swanepoel had falsely claimed that Panayiotou’s father‚ Constiantinos‚ had threatened to disinherit Panayiotou should he divorce Jayde; and
- There was no evidence supporting allegations that Jayde had been spending too much money.
Price said that‚ during the previous bail application‚ Stander had told the court that Coutts and Kapp had unequivocally implicated Panayiotou in their statements.
Panayiotou’s lawyer says ‘state misled the court’
It also questioned the admissibility of the state’s key witness’s confession.
The businessman‚ 30‚ the alleged mastermind behind the murder of his wife‚ Uitenhage school teacher Jayde Panayiotou‚ 29‚ in April last year‚ is trying for a third time to be released on bail‚ this time based on new facts.
State advocate Marius Stander has not yet responded to the allegations.
He said he would first argue that the defence had failed to present any new facts to magistrate Abigail Beeton‚ who denied bail to Panayiotou in June.
Advocate Terry Price SC said he would set out to prove a “powerful and corroborated case of behaviour by the prosecution and the police which undermined every basic principle of right to a fair trial”.
He said they had shown a complete lack of respect for the law of the country and its constitution.
It is alleged Panayiotou paid middleman Luthando Siyoni to hire hit men Sizwezakhe Vumazonke and Sinethemba Nemembe to kidnap and kill the Riebeek College teacher.
He said in his affidavit‚ read out to the court by Price on Tuesday: “At the time of my bail application‚ I was forced to rely on the state’s contention that it had a strong case since I had no access to the police docket.
“Now that I have been given access to a large portion of the docket‚ I have discovered that the state’s case is certainly not as strong as they allege and…that the state misled the court during the previous bail application.”
Panayiotou also contended that:
- Stander misled the court by claiming Panayiotou’s mistress‚ Chanelle Coutts‚ and her best friend‚ Clarishka Kapp‚ had implicated him in their statements;
- Investigating officer Lieutenant Kanna Swanepoel continued to harass Coutts and Kapp for more information and threatened them with arrest should they not implicate Panayiotou;
- It had emerged that the man who visited him in prison after his arrest‚ offering to “assist” with his case by causing the docket to disappear‚ was a police informant;
- Swanepoel had falsely claimed that Panayiotou’s father‚ Constiantinos‚ had threatened to disinherit Panayiotou should he divorce Jayde; and
- There was no evidence supporting allegations that Jayde had been spending too much money.
Price said that‚ during the previous bail application‚ Stander had told the court that Coutts and Kapp had unequivocally implicated Panayiotou in their statements.
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