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Acting Bulawayo regional magistrate Mr Godwin Sengweni, who convicted and sentenced Grant Fawcett, ordered him to reside at Number 77 Park Road, Suburbs.
He should report twice every month on Mondays of the first and last week of every month to Bulawayo Central Police Station charge office until the matter has been finalised.
In his ruling after the application, Mr Sengweni said there was nothing to suggest that Fawcett would abscond if admitted to bail.
The court agreed with Fawcett’s defence counsel, Advocate Hilda Makusha Moyo, instructed by Webb Low and Barry Incorporating Ben Baron and Partners, that the system was not likely to process the appeal in the next two years given the known constraints in it.
“I do not want to deny the accused person an opportunity to get a second opinion on what is alleged he did,” said Mr Sengweni.
Fawcett (28) had pleaded not guilty to a charge of attempted murder but was convicted and sentenced to four years in prison of which half was suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.
Not happy with the conviction and sentence, Fawcett, through Adv Makusha Moyo, noted an appeal, arguing that the trial magistrate erred in finding him guilty of attempted murder when there was little or no evidence produced by the State to prove that he actually committed the offence.
He said the trial court erred by convicting him on essentially the sole evidence of the complainant, Mr James Mupasiri.
Fawcett contends that the trial court ought to have taken into account the crucial and fundamental fact that he was initially charged with common assault and that the complainant actually withdrew these charges against him.
“With the charges having been upgraded by the State to attempted murder and imposed on him, the complainant had every good reason to be untruthful because of the obvious pressure that was on him to secure a conviction,” wrote Adv Makusha Moyo.
In the bail pending appeal application, Adv Makusha Moyo argued that her client’s chances of success on appeal were very high given the inconsistencies in the State case.
Adv Makusha Moyo noted that in the State outline Fawcett came through the gate at high speed and hit complainant but he did not fall down but claims he was pushed against the pre-cast wall.
“If this is what happened, complainant should have suffered serious injuries.Complainant says he was holding a dog by a leash but it was unharmed. This suggests that nothing happened to the complainant.
“Complainant was seen by a doctor after five days and he walked to his workplace that very morning. This is hardly consistent with someone who was hit by a motor vehicle and squeezed against a pre-cast wall,” she submitted.
Adv Makusha Moyo said the medical report produced in court as an exhibit talks of tenderness of the flesh and states that there was no danger to life while the magistrate in his reasons for sentence says the complainant was lucky to escape with his life.
Adv Makusha Moyo said the sentence imposed by the trial court was so severe as to induce a sense of shock, adding that the court ought to have given more credit to the fact that Fawcett was a young first offender.
Ms Sifiso Ndlovu for the State had opposed the application for bail pending appeal arguing that there were no prospects of success on appeal. She said chances of Fawcett absconding were very high given the fact that he knew that what he did attracts a prison term.
The State case was that on 6 January last year, at around 3am, Mr Mupasiri, a guard working for Fawcett Security was on duty guarding Fawcett’s residence.
Fawcett, who is Mr Nigel Fawcett’s son, came driving his motor vehicle, a pick-up truck, and he opened the gate using remote control.
Mr Mupasiri was standing close to the pre-cast wall holding a dog by its leash and instead of driving straight into the yard, Ms Ndlovu proved, he turned and drove straight at the security guard and pushed him against the pre-cast wall and squeezed him hard against it. The State proved that when the complainant asked him what he was doing, he told him that he hated black people and wanted to kill him.
Online Reporter