An alleged burglar who abandoned a bail application, then changed his mind and reapplied, only to abandon it again, on Thursday decided he wanted bail after all when he appeared in a Cape Town court.
Moegamat Lucas (21) had magistrate Alta le Roux, his lawyer, Yolanda Cyster, and prosecutor Mirriam Motsoahae exasperated when he made his ninth appearance in the magistrate’s court, following his arrest in March.
He is alleged to have stolen a laptop worth R10 000 and a gold ring valued at R25 000 during a burglary in February at an Observatory home.
At his first court appearance, in March, his request for bail was refused after the prosecutor claimed he had four other criminal charges pending. He insisted he only had one.
At the second hearing, the prosecutor conceded he only had one pending case, but added that he had given false names to the police. At that hearing, Lucas said he had been robbed of his shoes at Pollsmoor prison.
At his fourth appearance, Lucas abandoned his bail application, but relaunched it in May, only to abandon it again.
At Thursday’s proceedings, the prosecutor informed the court Lucas in fact had three pending cases. She said he was on bail in a theft case, but was also in custody for a second case scheduled for trial next Thursday.
In the third case, he was in custody for the alleged possession of vehicle break-in tools, she said.
On Thursday, he was remanded to July 27 in the housebreaking case, but again requested bail.
He changed his mind after Cyster explained he would in any event remain in custody in the other cases, even if released on bail for the alleged housebreaking.
He was about to be taken back to the holding cells, when he changed his mind yet again.
He is now to launch a bail application on July 27. — Sapa