Nightclub bouncer succeeds in bail bid

The Durban nightclub bouncer accused of murder has insisted that he “did not shoot the deceased”.

Hector Britts, 33, was testifying in the Durban Magistrate’s Court during his successful bail application on Wednesday.

Britts, who works for the city’s fire and disaster management division in Pinetown and as a part-time bouncer, has been charged with the murder of Craigh Botha.

Botha died on August 11 after he was shot outside Rocca Bar Niteclub in Morningside on August 4.

Britts handed himself to the police almost a week later.

In his affidavit, he said he would not plead guilty to the murder charge and was confident he would be able to successfully defend himself.

“I don’t own a firearm and no firearm was seized from me. I did not shoot the deceased.”

Britts said that on the night of the shooting Botha was ”extremely” aggressive and had allegedly wanted to assault his ex-wife inside the nightclub.

“She sought refuge in the VIP section and once again the deceased (Botha) approached her and wanted to assault her and another male that she was speaking with. I approached him together with the owner of the nightclub, who is friends with him, and asked him to calm down,” he said.

Britts said Botha then focused his anger on him and allegedly threatened to assault him. “The owner of the nightclub had eventually calmed the deceased (Botha) down and began to escort him out of the nightclub. As he passed me, he suddenly attacked me by throwing a flurry of punches at me,” he said.

Britts said he was taken completely by surprise and did not even have an opportunity to retaliate. He said it was at that stage that “someone” allegedly shot the deceased.

“I don’t know who shot him. I must point out that the deceased is a huge man with a bodybuilder’s physique, and our intention was never to engage in any physical confrontation with him,” he said.

Britts said he would be surprised if any of the witnesses indicated they saw him in possession of a firearm and witnessed him shooting Botha.

He also told the court that he had been convicted of fraud in 1999 and had received a suspended sentence. He said he also had a pending case of assault, for which he had been released on warning.

He told the court other charges of assault had been brought against him arising from his previous job at Groove nightclub in Point, but these had all been withdrawn.

If granted bail, Britts said, he would not intimidate or threaten any of the State witnesses, and he did not even know who they were. He also said he would not be working at Rocca Bar while out on bail.

Warrant Officer Selvan Naidoo, the investigating officer, said in his affidavit that the owner of the club, Tyrone Lundy, calmed Botha down and asked him to leave the premises after an argument with his ex-wife, Cindy Botha.

Naidoo said Lundy was walking in front of Botha to escort him out when Britts, who was standing on the dance floor, was attacked by Botha.

“Mr Lundy managed to separate both males, when suddenly he heard a loud bang and noticed Mr Botha fall to the ground. He was bleeding profusely from the abdomen and realised that he had been shot,” he said.

Naidoo said he visited Botha at Inkosi Albert Luthuli Hospital. “From my brief interview with Botha it was confirmed that Britts had shot Botha,” he said.

Naidoo said the State had a prima facie case against Britts, as there were key witnesses placing him at the scene, committing the offence.

“The reasons for me opposing the applicant’s application for bail is that this is a prevalent offence. The applicant’s criminal profile somehow became public knowledge as it was posted on various social networks,” he said.

This, he said, had instilled fear in several State witnesses.

“If the applicant is to be released on bail, it will be impossible to prevent him from communicating with these witnesses.”

State prosecutor Blackie Swart said the reason why Britts had taken almost a week to hand himself over to police was that he (Britts) was allegedly getting rid of the weapon, and he questioned why he had not handed himself over to police that same day.

Swart said it was not in the interests of justice for Britts to be released on bail.

Britts’ lawyer, Ridewaan Sayed, said there was no proof his client would interfere with witnesses.

“This is not a forum of anticipating punishment. It is a forum for the court to decide if he should be released on bail,” he said.

Magistrate Vanitha Armu said she was satisfied that it would be in the interests of justice to release him on bail, which was set at R10 000.

Andrew Botha, Craigh’s brother, said they accepted the court’s decision. “We are still in mourning and missing Craigh and there is no time for anger.”

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