All charges against three former Selborne pupils charged with attempted murder in the infamous Tiger Tiger nightclub incident last year were dropped yesterday.
The headline-grabbing case was withdrawn in the Wynberg Magistrates Court in the afternoon.
Mitchell Turner, 20, Chad de Matos, 19, and Aaron Mack, 20, were arrested in Cape Town in October last year after cleaner Delia Adonis, 52, alleged they and two other youths beat her viciously. She claimed her son Tesh-Lee had intervened in the assault.
The young men were arrested, denied bail and spent a night in Pollsmoor prison before defence attorney William Booth made an urgent high court application to free them.
The docket was then forwarded to the director of public prosecutions in the Western Cape.
He has declined to prosecute and withdrawn all charges. Another two men also implicated but not charged or named in the press, will also not be charged.
In a startling turnaround, Booth told the Dispatch yesterday that the men and their families may take criminal and civil action against Adonis and her son.
“The truth is out. She assaulted one of my clients with a broomstick. She was the perpetrator.
“She alleged this was a racist attack, which is a blatant lie.
“It had nothing to do with racism. They are not racist,” said Booth, who said the case should have been investigated before the boys were arrested.
“It has been so traumatic for the boys and their families.
“Their names and photos were in the media and all over social media so it has been an emotional strain on them.
“But they have been vindicated because they should never have been prosecuted in the first place.
“The boys and their families are overjoyed that justice has been done, yet the damage has also been done because their names and photos are out there.”
East London private investigator Christian Botha said he had been tasked by the families to investigate the matter and obtained corroborating witness statements from security guards and bouncers at the Tiger Tiger complex that contradicted the complainants’ statements.
“They said the woman and her son were the aggressors in the incident,” said Botha.
He said there had been two separate fights inside Tiger Tiger on the night in question, alleging Adonis had assisted a victim from one of the fights.
Botha further alleged Adonis and her son had attacked the former Selborne pupils thinking they had been the aggressors in that fight.
Exonerated Old Selbornians may sue
The headline-grabbing case was withdrawn in the Wynberg Magistrates Court in the afternoon.
Mitchell Turner, 20, Chad de Matos, 19, and Aaron Mack, 20, were arrested in Cape Town in October last year after cleaner Delia Adonis, 52, alleged they and two other youths beat her viciously. She claimed her son Tesh-Lee had intervened in the assault.
The young men were arrested, denied bail and spent a night in Pollsmoor prison before defence attorney William Booth made an urgent high court application to free them.
The docket was then forwarded to the director of public prosecutions in the Western Cape.
He has declined to prosecute and withdrawn all charges. Another two men also implicated but not charged or named in the press, will also not be charged.
In a startling turnaround, Booth told the Dispatch yesterday that the men and their families may take criminal and civil action against Adonis and her son.
“The truth is out. She assaulted one of my clients with a broomstick. She was the perpetrator.
“She alleged this was a racist attack, which is a blatant lie.
“It had nothing to do with racism. They are not racist,” said Booth, who said the case should have been investigated before the boys were arrested.
“It has been so traumatic for the boys and their families.
“Their names and photos were in the media and all over social media so it has been an emotional strain on them.
“But they have been vindicated because they should never have been prosecuted in the first place.
“The boys and their families are overjoyed that justice has been done, yet the damage has also been done because their names and photos are out there.”
East London private investigator Christian Botha said he had been tasked by the families to investigate the matter and obtained corroborating witness statements from security guards and bouncers at the Tiger Tiger complex that contradicted the complainants’ statements.
“They said the woman and her son were the aggressors in the incident,” said Botha.
He said there had been two separate fights inside Tiger Tiger on the night in question, alleging Adonis had assisted a victim from one of the fights.
Botha further alleged Adonis and her son had attacked the former Selborne pupils thinking they had been the aggressors in that fight.
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