The Acting Provincial Head of the Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation in the Free State, Brigadier Xolani Matroos has welcomed the sentencing of the three accused who appeared before the Welkom Regional Court on 11 December 2023. They were found guilty of the attempted murder of a police Sergeant and his girlfriend.
During June 2020, a member of the South African Police Service and his girlfriend were traveling on Constantia Road in Thabong in a white Nissan bakkie when they were accosted by the accused.
They opened fire on the bakkie leaving both occupants with several gunshot wounds. The police officer could identify one of the accused.
They managed to flee the scene and drove to Thabong police station where an ambulance was summoned for medical attention. The bakkie they were driving in had 12 bullet holes.
The matter was then referred to the Hawks’ Serious Organised Crime Investigation based in Welkom who traced and arrested the suspects.
The court sentenced the trio to ten years imprisonment each for two counts of attempted murder.