A warrant of arrest was issued for Springbok scrumhalf Ricky Januarie on Friday.
The warrant for Enrico Ricardo Januarie, better known as ”Ricky”, was to be ”executed immediately”, Bellville magistrate Helma Smit ordered, after he failed to appear in court on a charge of drunken driving for the second time.
Januarie (27) also faces a charge of reckless or negligent driving after he crashed his car in Durbanville in an early-hour collision in September last year.
Smit ordered the arrest when he failed to respond to his name being called out three times in court. His lawyer, Frikkie Erasmus, was also absent.
Prosecutor Marco Chandler told Smit he had tried unsuccessfully to reach Erasmus by telephone during the morning tea adjournment.
He said Erasmus’s office had informed him that staff had tried all week to track down Januarie to ensure his appearance on Friday, but they were unaware of his whereabouts. Erasmus himself was not in the office either, he told the court.
Chandler said he had informed Erasmus’s office that a warrant for Januarie’s arrest would be issued forthwith.
Smit said Januarie failed to appear in court in July, as he had then been with the Springboks during the Tri-Nations tournament. At that time, however, he had permission not to appear in court.
Smit said a warrant for his arrest had been authorised then already, but had been held back pending his court appearance on Friday. — Sapa