Hostage case postponed
2006-06-15
THE two accused in the recent hostage drama and bank heist in Franschhoek appeared in the Paarl Regional Court last week.
Darren le Roux (20) and a minor are charged with attempted robbery, intimidation, malicious damage to property and assault.
The two would have appeared together on Friday, but the police went to the wrong place of safety to fetch the minor, who has been kept there since the botched bank heist.
Le Roux has been out on R500 bail.
The incident occurred on 8 April, when the sixteen-year-old daughter of an employee of Nedbank in Franschhoek, Diane Pretorius, was held hostage by a masked man.
He forced her to sit on fake explosives and threatened to blow her up.
When her mother, Alta, arrived at their flat above the bank, she was forced to strap fake explosives around her waist and told to return to the bank and fill a bag with money.
Alta returned to the bank and filled the bag with approximately R84 000 in cash, but could not follow the robber’s instructions to the drop-off point. The police were then alerted.
The minor, a friend and neighbour of Diane’s, had been visiting the Pretorius flat when the drama enfolded.
The state alleges that the two young men colluded to rob Nedbank.
Magistrate Patrick Ross postponed Le Roux’s case until 27 July.
When the minor eventually appeared in court on Monday, he was released into the custody of his mother until his next appearance, with his alleged accomplice.
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