Thieving Fake Doctor Denied Bail

Innocent Selatlhwa | Monday May 8, 2017 15:56

 

Dithebe is alleged to have some time in April stolen the phone valued at P11,000 from an insurance broker, Koziba Mpedi. It is alleged that Dithebe had forged a Princess Marina Hospital (PMH) doctor’s identity card with his picture under the names of Dr Karabo Jackson.

It is said Dithebe lured Mpedi to PMH claiming that he was going to sign up for a policy from Mpedi before fleeing with his phone after asking to use it to call while they were at PMH.

Delivering her ruling, Ncube said Dithebe was not a candidate for bail as he committed the offence while on bail for a similar offence and had two others pending at Central Police Station.

“The Investigating Officer (IO) when advancing reasons for bail said the stolen phone has not been recovered yet. He also told the Court that the accused person was found in possession of the fake ID and it will be brought to Court as evidence,” she said.

Ncube said the IO also told Court that Dithebe committed the offence while on bail on a similar matter at the Broadhurst Magistrate Court and two others at Central Police Station. She also stated that Dithebe initially wanted bail and later said he did not mind being kept in prison.

Ncube said the Court was to consider strength of the prosecution case, whether the accused is a habitual criminal, whether he contravened bail rules before and whether the accused will attend Court mentions.

“The ID has been brought to Court to support the case that he lured victims claiming to be a doctor. It also seems like he is a habitual criminal looking at the charges he faces. Granting him bail can lead to him committing more offences.

I cannot be certain he will attend cases, as he is no stranger to not attending mentions. Justice will be best served with him in custody,” she said. Keorapetse Seleke represents the State while Dithebe represents himself. The case will resume end of May.