MISTAKEN IDENTITY - MAN DENIED THE RIGHT TO SUE

Good Grief! Can you just imagine the indignity of being incorrectly arrested in the first place and then not having any kind of recourse!

Surely this must be setting a very dangerous president!

Regards
Nikki



In a bizarre case of mistaken identity, a man who spent four days in prison after being wrongly pointed out by a well-meaning member of the public, has been told that he cannot sue.

The Supreme Court of Appeal on Tuesday ruled that members of the public who honestly and on reasonable grounds report suspected crimes to the police do not incur liability for malicious arrest and prosecution.

Relyant Trading, which does business as Geen & Richards in Brits, successfully appealed against an order of the Pretoria High Court awarding damages to SP Shongwe who had sued them for malicious arrest and prosecution.

In May 2002, a man only known as Mr Makgabo bought a computer from the Geen & Richards store in Brits. He provided the store with the necessary documentation and they allowed him to conclude a hire purchase agreement. He took the computer, but did not pay the instalments. He also subsequently disappeared. On investigation it turned out that his employment details were fake.

A fraud charge was laid with the police. In August 2002, Shongwe happened to walk past the store. The woman who had sold the computer to Makgabo thought - erroneously - that he was Makgabo. Shongwe did not have his ID book with him. He, however, vowed to return with it to prove that he was not Makgabo.

The woman phoned the police and they arrested him. From August 28 to September 4 he was kept in custody and then released on bail. The charges were, however, withdrawn in December 2002.

In its judgment, the Supreme Court of Appeal held that it was the police and not the employees of Geen & Richards who had arrested Shongwe.

Consequently, the court held, the employees could not be held liable for malicious arrest and prosecution. Shongwe had sued the police, but his claim against them was dismissed.
o This article was originally published on page 3 of Daily News on September 27, 2006