An alleged gang boss from Hanover Park accused of murdering his wife will approach the Western Cape High Court to appeal a decision to deny him bail.
This was revealed by the legal team for Duncan “Lord” Hoorn this week after the Athlone Magistrates Court denied his bail application on Friday.
The 39-year-old man who is the alleged leader of the Ghetto Kidz gang is accused of causing the death of his wife Chantel Pasquelle after a fight.
Cops explained that Chantel was admitted to Groote Schuur Hospital on 27 June after she had been stabbed and assaulted. She was in a coma and died on 28 July.
A community activist, who asked not to be named, said on the day of the assault the police were alerted to the incident.
During court proceedings the State argued that Hoorn had failed to provide exceptional circumstances for his release on bail.
Speaking to the Daily Voice this week, Hoorn’s attorney Labiek Samuels said during the bail hearings his client took the stand to explain himself.
Samuels says: “In his version, he explained that the day before she was admitted to hospital he received a call from his wife to meet with him at a motel in the Cape Town CBD.
“It was one of those places that you rent for an hour or two. She told him to catch a guy and while he saw a man run passed him he was unable to catch the guy but was confused about what was going on.”
The lawyer said the couple drove home and Chantel complained about having a headache. On arrival at their home they had a bekgeveg and ended up sleeping in separate bedrooms.
Samuels explains: “The next day she was taken to hospital by a relative and was allegedly declared dead on arrival. She was resuscitated and they performed an emergency craniotomy and she was placed in a coma so the swelling on her brain could go down.
“In this time my client was prevented from seeing his wife by the doctors based on the version given by her family and he sought an interim protection order, but he was arrested before the application could be heard.”
Samuels said “inconsistencies” in the medical reports will form the base of the appeal.
He adds: “My client denies assaulting her and due to the inconsistencies in the medical reports saying she died of a chest issue caused by blunt force trauma to the head need to be scrutinised. We will be lodging an appeal with the High Court.”