No bed for sword murder teen at Weskoppies

A teenage boy, 16, that stands accused of murdering his 76-year-old grandmother with a sword in Georginia will be sent to Weskoppies Psychiatric Hospital for further psychiatric evaluation, once a bed becomes available.

The Roodepoort Magistrate’s Court furthered their preliminary inquiry into his ability to stand trial on Wednesday 25 February.

According to a trusted source within the judiciary the inquiry was important as the system tries to steer underage offenders clear of obtaining a criminal record.

This process is called diversion and it was important to establish whether the accused, an alleged schedule 3 offender, is fit for the process.

The magistrate tested the accused for one of three outcomes; diversion in which he would be signed up for a diversion program, psychiatric evaluation to determine his ability to stand trial or the imminent prosecution, should his case not be suitable for the other two options.

Where an underage offender is entered into a diversion program, he or she is expected to pass the program else face prosecution.

A psychologist on Wednesday recommended to court that the boy be sent for psychiatric evaluation. He was previously evaluated by a social worker appointed by the state.

According to reports the boy’s lawyer, Aadil Lambat, said that the psychiatric hospital doesn’t have a bed available for him.

The case has been postponed for two weeks in order for the court to officially refer him to the hospital.

Lambat reportedly said that the case will be postponed again until such time that a bed becomes available at the hospital.

The boy will likely be under evaluation for 30 days at the institute in Pretoria.

The trial date will be set pending the outcome of the preliminary inquiry.

The boy allegedly murdered his grandmother with a sword on 15 December last year.

She suffered a fatal wound to the neck and was also stabbed in the chest.

The boy was a Grade 10 pupil of Hoerskool Florida.