Legal Question in Criminal Law in South Africa
If a person is charged with possession of suspected stolen property , what is his defence? If he shares the yard which is approximately 10 000m2 with other tenants who also have the keys to the main gate.He did not see them driving in with a truck loaded with thse stolen items as he was on the other end of the yard to show the security guard a hole in a fence whic poses a risk as it could be used by thieves to gain entry in the yard.The only time he saw that there was a such a truck as when he was walking back toward the main gate and he saw that there were police outside the main gate who instructed him to open the gate as it was locked. The truck was still iddling with keys on the ignition but the driver was nohere to found.
1 Answer from Attorneys
From the information provided, there seems to be a valid defence against the charges. One must bear in mind that the onus is on the state to prove that a person is guilty of the offence, which requires that all the elements of the relevant offence be proven.
In the present matter, it seems that the state will not be able to prove that the accused person was in actual possession of the suspected stolen goods. He shares occupation of the premises with other tenants. It is a fairly large property. The other tenants have access to the property and can come an go as they please. The truck containing the suspected stolen goods was not in his possession or under his control at any relevant time. In my view, given the information provided above, the state will not succeed in showing that the accused person was in possession of these suspected stolen goods.
Nevertheless, it would be advisable for the accused person to obtain legal representation so as to ensure that his rights are adequately protected. If he needs an attorney, I suggest he contacts Gys Niesing on 084 593 2341 for assistance. Gys currently deals mainly with criminal matters and would be able to assist.
Yours faithfully,
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