Convicted former police detective Alicia Beeming will most likely spend the Easter weekend behind bars after prison authorities failed to bring her to court on Wednesday to appeal against her four-year prison sentence and apply for bail.
According to court officials, Beeming had reported to the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday to begin serving her sentence after magistrate Onke Myataza granted her a 30-day grace period to sort out her affairs.
Beeming was convicted in August 2017 on a charge of defeating the ends of justice after she was caught hiding an alleged gangster and high-ranking member of the Upstand Dogs gang, Hans Jordaan, while she worked in the police’s gang unit.
Myataza sentenced Beeming to an effective four years in prison on March 14.
However, she was unable to appeal against the sentence on Wednesday due to an apparent administrative bungle which resulted in no paperwork being submitted authorising her to be transported from the North End Prison to court.
At the time of sentencing, Myataza said a custodial sentence was the only option to consider after he found that Beeming, 36, had not only “obstructed the administration of justice [but] in fact undermined it”.
After passing down sentence, Myataza ordered that Beeming be given 30 days to get her affairs in order, which included arranging the care of her three children, a son, 15, and twin daughters, 12.
Handing down the sentence, Myataza said the state had proved that due to Beeming’s actions, charges against Jordaan were dropped and he was never prosecuted.
Jordaan was facing charges of attempted murder.
Beeming had been a member of the gang unit since 2016 and was an investigating officer mandated to investigate, research and gather information related to the Upstand Dogs and Dustlives gangs.
Myataza said evidence led by former gang unit boss Colonel Mike Grobler during aggravation of sentencing was damning.
Grobler had said at the time that Beeming’s actions had a devastating effect on the unit and all the cases she had been working on had to be withdrawn and charges against suspects dropped.
After arriving at the New Law Courts building in North End on Tuesday, Beeming indicated to the court that she wished to bring an application for leave to appeal against her conviction and apply for bail.
But her newly appointed legal aid attorney, Mark Jacobs, only received the transcripts of the trial on the day and needed time to prepare. “The matter was rolled over to [Wednesday] in order to clarify certain issues,” Jacobs said.
Beeming was not brought to the court from the North End Prison due to an apparent administrative bungle, Jacobs said.
State prosecutor Rafiq Ahmed confirmed Beeming had not been brought to the court as prison authorities were not aware she was meant to appear.
“There were no documents processed to bring [Beeming] to court,” Ahmed said.
Myataza struck the matter off the court roll after a request to do so was submitted by Jacobs and agreed to by Ahmed.
It was still to be determined when the matter would be before the court again.