Court convicts one man of 2011 murders

ONE of the men accused of a brutal double murder in Schauderville in 2011 turned briefly towards the public gallery of the Port Elizabeth High Court and smiled as he was found not guilty on all charges yesterday.

But while Sheldon du Plessis, 22, of North End, was acquitted on all charges, his co-accused, Ryan Thomas, 24, of Schauderville, was found guilty of robbery with aggravating circumstances and two counts of murder relating to the October 2011 incident.

The pair had been charged with the murders of Allen Dace, 53, and Bernadito Reid, 36, who were stabbed several times as they drove through Schauderville.

Judge Murray Lowe found that Thomas was the one who had stabbed both men from the back seat of Dace's vehicle as they were travelling from a tavern in Schauderville early on October 30 2011.

While Du Plessis had testified that he had brought the knife along for protection and had passed it to Thomas during the evening, Lowe said the state had failed to prove that Du Plessis knew that the murders would take place. - Lee-Anne Butler