An accused person who appeared in the Wynberg Magistrate Court in Cape Town in a case of assault allegedly lashed out at an attorney, who had no connection to his case, slapping her in the face.
Mari Rencken, aged 47 years, was sitting next to the accused box in court two last Thursday, May 20 when the incident unfolded. She was waiting to be called for a matter in which she appeared on behalf of the client.
“I had a matter that stood down to do mediation and had to go back to court and tell the prosecutor what happened,” Rencken told Daily Sun.
While waiting for the matter to be called, the court was still dealing with the accused who allegedly accosted her. Rencken said that as the magistrate said he would postpone the matter, the accused became visibly upset.
“The guy was just getting agitated because he would not stop talking. The interpreter told him to calm.”
“When he walked out of the box, I was sitting in front of him, and he just smacked me, and my head hit the wall, and I fell off the chair.”
“I never expected him to be angry with me because I didn’t have anything to do with his case,” said Rencken
She added that the accused was there for an assault case and he was not given bail, which was why he was on his way down to the holding cell when he allegedly attacked her
Rencken was assisted by someone in court, who took her to a clinic.
She had a cut to her left eye, which was also swollen. Rencken believed that her glasses had cut her as they broke when she fell off the ground.
Police spokesperson Captain FC van Wyk confirmed that a case of common assault was registered and was being investigated by the Wynberg Police Station.
On 2021/05/20 at approximately 10:30 in the morning, the complainant, a 47-year-old female (also an attorney), was in Wynberg Magistrate Court 2, busy with proceedings, when she was assaulted by an unknown male with an open hand. The unknown male was appearing in court 2 in an unrelated matter,” Van Wyk said.
Meanwhile, Rencken said that in her 21 years of being an attorney, this was the first time an incident of such kind happened.
