Dingaan Thobela’s chances of another shot at the WBC title rest on the outcome of a Canadian trial
Deon Potgieter
There has been increasing interest in the trial of Dave Hilton, which started last Tuesday in Quebec. Hilton, who was awarded a controversial points decision over Dingaan Thobela for the World Boxing Council super-middleweight world title in December, is facing what he calls “a tough battle”.
Hilton stands accused on nine sex-related counts involving two girls under the age of 14. The interest in the Hilton case has been so immense that a prominent tabloid in Montreal featured a full-page colour photo of Hilton for three days running last week. Even the news last Friday that Celine Dion, Canada’s performer of the millennium, gave birth could only garner a third of the front page, while the rest was filled with a photograph of Hilton kissing a smiling young fan on the cheek.
Attendance at the courtrooms by fans and curious onlookers has grown to such an extent that the trial had to be moved to a larger court on Monday to try and accommodate as many spectators as possible. Still people are lining up outside the courts hours before the trial gets under way each morning in the hope of getting a seat. Many are left standing in the corridors hoping to get an autograph and perhaps a photograph or kiss from their beleaguered hero.
A security guard at the court, who wanted to remain annonymous, reported that the people’s reactions to Hilton made him sick. After hearing the testimony of the two girls, he said he could not even look Hilton in the face.
The alleged abuse of the two girls, sisters, took place between 1995 and 1998. The elder sister gave her testimony first and said the touching and kissing started when she was 12. Over time this led to oral sex, masturbation and intercourse.
The younger sister testified that Hilton also wanted both of them to engage in oral sex with him at the same time.
Both sisters stated that Hilton was obsessed with virginity and that he had told them that girls who went to school all become whores, because boys like them and they like boys. He was intent on being their first sexual partner.
Attempts by Hilton’s defence attorney to discredit the girls testimony backfired when he pointed out differences in statements made by the girls at a preliminary hearing a year earlier.
Tape recordings made at the time made it clear, however, that the statements were in accordance with previous testimony and that the transcriber of the tapes had in fact made errors mistakenly using the word pencil instead of testicles, among other errors.
Another shocker came on Tuesday when the mother of the two girls revealed that she had also been raped by Hilton. He would allegedly beat her up if she refused intercourse with him.
The prosecution continues its case with another three witnesses and the defence will present its case next week.
Sources close to the Hilton camp have said he will deny all charges.