A defence lawyer in the case of the missing six-year-old Joshlin Smith has alleged that police coerced a false confession from one of the accused, instructing him to implicate others in a purported child trafficking scheme.

Joshlin was reported missing from her home in Middelpos, Saldanha Bay, on February 19, 2024

The child's mother Racquel ‘Kelly’ Smith, her boyfriend Jacquen ‘Boeta’ Appollis and friends Steveno ‘Steffie’ van Rhyn and former accused Laurentia ‘Renz’ Lombaard were arrested and charged with kidnapping and human trafficking.

During cross-examination in the Western Cape High Court on Tuesday, Advocate Nobahle Mkabayi told the court that her client, Van Rhyn, was told by police to say that 'Kelly told Boeta to take Joshlin to Maka Lima'.

She argued the confession was “prescribed” by officers.

Testifying in response, Detective Dawid Johannes Fortuin denied the allegation but conceded: “If this was prescribed, then he should have told me.

"Therefore, it is possible that was said (to him) but that is very unlikely.”

The claim forms part of a growing narrative from the defence, which alleges the accused were tortured, coerced and manipulated into making statements after the six-year-old disappeared.

Mkabayi told the court her client had been on his way from Vredenburg to Saldanha when he was picked up by two men in a van on March 4, 2024, whom he believed to be good Samaritans.

Instead, she said, they took him to Jacobsbaai Beach.

“He didn’t know that these men would later subject him to severe torture,” she said.

Mkabayi added that her client was then taken to Sea Border offices for questioning.

Fortuin, who testified about the events of 4 and 5 March 2024, said he had no knowledge of the alleged beach incident or any injuries sustained by Van Rhyn during his time at the Sea Border offices.

“I don’t know who brought the accused in, what time, or where they found him. I didn’t hear of such torture,” he told the court.

Mkabayi also alleged her client was handcuffed when Fortuin first encountered him.

Fortuin denied this, insisting the accused “was never handcuffed” and had been “sitting with his hands on the table".

She further claimed that officers mocked Van Rhyn’s grief over his mother’s recent death.

“They made fun of his mother,” Mkabayi said.

“They told him they’d bring flowers so he could go lay them at the grave, because he wasn’t there for the funeral.”

Fortuin replied: “I can’t comment, I was not present for that.”

He told the court his priority had been to find Joshlin and said that when he encountered Van Rhyn, he asked if he knew her whereabouts.

When the accused replied that he did not, Fortuin said there were “discrepancies” in his responses.

Fortuin insisted he had followed procedure and said there was no evidence of mistreatment while the accused was in his presence.

But Mkabayi said the trust was already broken.

“He had already lost faith in you. How could you expect him to come forward and speak to you about the torture?”

Fortuin said: “There were no signs of assault when I was with him in the office.

“I don’t understand the mistrust in me.”

Earlier, he told the court he did not know anything about the alleged torture of Appollis.

Defence attorney Advocate Fanie Harmse claimed Appollis had no injuries before arriving at Sea Border, citing planned testimony from his mother, sister, and sister-in-law, who were with him at the Hoedjiesbaai Hotel before his arrest.

Fortuin said he could not comment as he was not present when the alleged incidents took place.

He testified that during a later interview on March 6, when he took Appollis’s warning statement, he noticed injuries.

“The accused said he fell from a police van,” Fortuin explained, adding that “the accused pointed to a red eye, scuff marks on his face, left arm, forearms, left knee and foot, and claimed he had internal injuries.”

Harmse suggested there was no possibility that the accused could have sustained those injuries by falling or jumping from a vehicle, as previously suggested.

Fortuin responded: “He said he got the injuries before he was arrested. I didn’t ask for more details. In my experience, I’ve had similar injuries before, and I accepted his version.”

Judge Nathan Erasmus said none of the witnesses testified about the accused being transported in a police van.

Judge Erasmus is hoping to conclude the trial-within-a-trial at the end of this week.

Cape Argus