Former magistrate fails in Supreme Court bid

The High Court has denied former magistrate Jaco Kennedy’s application for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court.
Kennedy wants to appeal a decision by the Windhoek Magistrate’s Court not to grant him bail in a rape case.
The former magistrate, while he was already on bail on a rape charge, allegedly committed another rape.
Judge Alfred Siboleka yesterday ruled that there are no prospects that another court would release Kennedy on bail.
Siboleka said the magistrate rightfully took into account the fact that the alleged rape victim would be at risk because Kennedy, 29, had similar pending charges against him.
“The applicant cannot be allowed back into society while fresh serious allegations of rape are surfacing...” Siboleka said.
Kennedy was out on N$3 000 bail in connection with an incident that happened in Windhoek’s Otjomuise residential area in January 2015. He and another man had allegedly raped a woman they had offered a lift to.
Kennedy was arrested again in January 2016 for allegedly raping another woman on 31 December 2015. The second incident took place between the Windhoek Central and Katutura State hospitals.
Since his arrest on the second charge he has been kept in police custody at the Windhoek Central Correctional Facility.
At the beginning of May he brought an urgent High Court appeal against the Magistrate’s Court’s decision to deny him bail.
This appeal was dismissed. Kennedy then applied for leave to appeal to the Supreme Court, which was denied.

FRED GOEIEMAN