A Pretoria High Court judge on Monday refused so-called ”lion killer” Mark Scott-Crossley bail pending the outcome of an appeal against his murder conviction and life sentence.
Judge Jerry Shongwe said he was not convinced Scott-Crossley’s conviction was suspect, despite the fact that the Supreme Court of Appeal had granted him leave to appeal.
He said there was also an increased risk that Scott-Crossley would abscond because he faced a long prison term.
Shongwe said the case had furthermore received countrywide publicity and engendered a lot of emotion. It was the duty of the court to avoid compromising public safety.
Scott-Crossley, who was married on the day he was sentenced, claimed in his application there was a good chance that the appeal court would find that his victim, farm worker Nelson Chisale, was already dead when he was thrown into the lion camp. If that were the case, he could only be convicted of being an accessory after the fact to murder.
His counsel, Johan Engelbrecht, SC, also argued that there had been numerous irregularities during the trial, which might have attributed to the Appeal Court’s decision to grant him leave to appeal.
Scott-Crossley was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Phalaborwa Circuit Court in October 2005 for assaulting and then throwing Chisale to the lions.
Co-accused Simon Mathebula was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment. A third accomplice, Robert Mnisi, received indemnity after turning state witness. The fourth accused, Richard Mathebula, has since died.
Shongwe said it was clear the trial court had found Scott-Crossley to have been the mastermind of the murder.
The court had rejected Scott-Crossley’s claim that he had found Chisale dead and been forced by Mnisi to throw him to the lions.
Shongwe said the conclusion that Scott-Crossley was a violent man could not be doubted after reading the documents placed before the court. He had assaulted and threatened Chisale with a rifle and then ordered Mathebula and Mnisi to load Chisale into the bakkie and throw him into the lion’s camp.
Even while in custody, Scott-Crossley had threatened to have his co-accused killed, resulting in Mnisi being placed in the witness protection programme.
Shongwe said if there had been irregularities in the trial, they had not warranted an acquittal. — Sapa