Panayiotou defence file leave to appeal conviction

Wife killer Christopher Panayiotou’s lawyers made another bid for his freedom when they filed leave to appeal his conviction on Friday.

The appeal was filed by Panayiotou’s advocate Terry Price at the Port Elizabeth High Court.

Saying that the trial was hugely biased in favour of the state the appeal also suggested that Judge Dayalin Chetty did not act objectively.

The 33-page document also states that had evidence and the law been applied fairly Panayiotou would have been acquitted.

In his argument Price said: “A holistic reading of the judgment and a thorough perusal of the Court record and the Exhibits must lead to the conclusion by a Court of Appeal that the Learned Judge did not conduct the trial fairly, objectively or professionally throughout and, it will further find that there is more than enough evidence to support a finding that he appeared to be siding with the prosecution and the police throughout the trial and in every aspect of the evidence placed before him and as such, will find that this Honourable Court did not act objectively and as a result that the Applicant did not enjoy a fair trial.”

Panayiotou was convicted on November 2 of the murder of his school teacher wife Jayde who was abducted from outside her home in  Kabega Park home and murdered on April 21 2015.