Legal counsel for Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride on Monday asked the Pretoria Regional Court to compel the state to hand over all documents containing statements made against him.
This included a statement not related to the drunken-driving case before the court.
McBride’s advocate, Guido Penzhorn, wanted magistrate Peet Johnson to order the state to hand over all statements made to police by state witnesses Itumeleng Koko, Stanley Sagathevan and Patrick Johnson.
He argued that not having the documents affected McBride’s right to adequately prepare a defence.
McBride was entitled to find out why the three state witnesses changed their original statements, which had indicated his innocence.
”What exactly is the sword that hangs over these witnesses?” Penzhorn asked.
Penzhorn said that even if the statements were not directly related to the drunken-driving case, they might indicate what pressure police had put on these witnesses to change their statements against McBride.
McBride has pleaded not guilty to charges of defeating the ends of justice, fraud and driving under the influence of alcohol.
He is also at the centre of 18 police investigations resulting from the arrest of alleged cash-in-transit heist kingpin Marco Singh in December 2006, the Mail & Guardian reported on Friday.
The M&G has established that McBride is under investigation by the South African Police Service (SAPS) for allegedly torturing Singh, using Singh’s luxury BMW X5 vehicle after its owner had been arrested, altering official police registers about the incident and tampering with firearms.
The SAPS is also investigating allegations that McBride, or people instructed by him, smuggled weapons across the Oshoek border post to Swaziland.
McBride last week denied all the allegations against him. ”Yes, there was a time during the armed struggle when I was involved in smuggling arms, but it’s bullshit that I am involved in it now,” he told the M&G.