Murder trial judgment postponed due to Covid-19 contact

Judgment in the trial of three men accused of killing two alleged rival gangsters was postponed on Tuesday after it emerged in the Gqeberha high court that one of the accused had been in contact with a person with Covid-19.

He had been placed in isolation.

Euwen Bardness, Danielson Darries and Furdo April, all 25, are charged with two counts of murder, six of attempted murder and the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition.

At the start of their trial in November 2019, all three pleaded not guilty and claimed they had been nowhere near the two scenes where Linton Tobie and Justin Valentine were shot dead within hours of each other on September 23 2017.

A court official confirmed on Tuesday that Darries was in isolation.

According to the state, Darries, Bardness and April, all alleged members of the New Kids gang, were standing on the side of the road in Helenvale when a red Volkswagen Caddy stopped on the corner of Pot and Pienaar streets.

As the bakkie stopped, the trio allegedly opened fire, striking Tobie in the back.

He died later in Livingstone Hospital.

In the second incident, on the same day, it is alleged Valentine was walking down Pienaar Street with another man when Darries, Bardness and April approached him and opened fire.

Valentine was shot in the chest and declared dead on the scene.

The state claims that Tobie, Valentine and some of the trio’s other victims were members of the rival Upstand Dogs gang.

Judgment in the matter is now expected to be handed down on September 7.

HeraldLIVE