The alleged drink-fuelled car crash of former Ekurhuleni metro cop Robert McBride was part of a string of other transgressions, a witness told the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court on Wednesday.
“Before the drunken-driving crash, we had covered up a lot of other things … at one point we drove to Transkei and smoked dagga together,” said ex-colleague turned state witness Patrick Johnson.
He was testifying at the appearance of Mamelodi doctor Joseph Moratioa on fraud and other charges. The doctor allegedly issued a false medical certificate after McBride’s car crash, stating that he was not drunk at the time of his accident on the R511 near Hartbeespoort Dam in December 2006.
Earlier, Johnson told the court McBride was a “mad man” capable of anything, the most feared and aggressive man in Ekurhuleni. At one point McBride threatened to rape his wife and harm his family, said Johnson.
He said had he not complied with his former boss’s instruction to get a medical certificate and lie about his state of intoxication, he would have ended up on the streets.
“I did all the dirty jobs he told me to do,” said Johnson.
According to initial statements by Johnson and three other witnesses, McBride was not drunk at the time of the accident.
They later changed their statements after receiving immunity from prosecution on separate criminal charges.
“I had no input in any of the statements that I signed … but I was forced to do so by McBride,” Johnson said. — Sapa