Court holds police accountable for man's shooting during arrest

A MAN arrested for playing music too loudly never made it to the police cells and instead spent six days in ICU in hospital after the police, en route to the police station, attended a crime scene with him in the back and he was shot by robbers.

- ZELDA VENTER

The Middelburg High Court in Mpumalanga had strong words for the carelessness of the police, which will now result in the taxpayer having to dig into their pockets to pay damages to Enock Ximba.

The court found that the minister of police is 100% liable for the damages Ximba can prove that he has suffered. He was shot in the stomach during crossfire between the police and the robbers. The court also questioned why it was in the first place necessary for the police to arrest Ximba on a charge of noise pollution, while they could have simply issued him a warrant to appear in court.