PORT ELIZABETH, South Africa (Oct. 6, 2003) -- A police inspector has appeared in court on charges relating to aiding and abetting perlemoen poachers. Wayne Edgar Kuhn, 30, of Gate Street, Uitenhage, appeared in the regional court on 11 charges of corruption, involvement in illegal perlemoen activities and defeating the ends of justice. It is suspected he warned perlemoen poachers about raids and that he helped them by transporting perlemoen in his official vehicle. Kuhn was a court orderly at the New Law Courts building in Port Elizabeth between October 2001 and February 2002 when the alleged misdemeanours took place. He is now a member of the police's area crime-prevention unit in Uitenhage. The charge-sheet says that, because of his position, Kuhn had access to sensitive information about the movement of the police's special perlemoen task force, introduced to stop poaching. Other police facing charges It is suspected Kuhn offered money to inspector Etienne Jonck of Port Elizabeth's crime-prevention unit to give him information regarding the task force's movements and that he had tried to bribe him to neglect his official duties. Kuhn also is suspected of accepting money from poachers to supply them with police information, that he neglected his duties as a police official and that he helped people poach perlemoen. In one case, he is alleged to have received R300 from a Mario de Ridder to misuse his power as a police officer. | | He also faces a charge of defeating the ends of justice, because he apparently used an official police vehicle to transport perlemoen from Noordhoek to Forrest Hill to prevent police catching the poachers. Another case is pending against Kuhn in connection with the illegal possession of perlemoen. He and inspector William van der Mescht, who worked with him as a court orderly at the New Law Courts, were arrested at Bushy Park about a year ago and they are due to appear in court on January 21 next year. A case is also continuing against inspector Melissa Nagy, who allegedly used her position at Mount Road charge office to warn poachers of police activity. She is still working at the radio control station, pending the court case, which continues on October 24. Inspector Morné van Vuuren, head of the task force, declined to comment about the investigations against police members until they had been completed. Superintendent Marinda Mills of the provincial police said the court cases were sending a message that no one was above the law, not even police. She called on the public to supply information if they knew of police officials who were not on the straight and narrow. SOURCE - News24 |
