Biti in no show

Court Correspondent

The matter involving two men who allegedly erected an illegal billboard in Borrowdale, Harare with damaging information on a local property development firm, West Properties, has been deferred after the defendants’ lawyer Mr Tendai Biti failed to show up at court.

Biti is representing Grant Russell and Mark Strathen who are facing criminal nuisance charges.

The two accused persons told the court that they had been calling Mr Biti on his mobile phone since morning, but he kept saying he would be joining them.

Harare Magistrate Mr Shane Kubonera deferred the matter to February 23.

Russell and Strathen had their last application for exception dismissed by the same magistrate.

In dismissing the application, the magistrate said it was marred by triable issues.

The court heard that on December 10, 2020 at around 2pm at a place opposite Celebration Centre, Borrowdale, the accused persons erected a billboard with damaging information on West Properties in a bid to tarnish its image.

The company believes that the billboard erected by Russell and Strathen had contents which were likely to interfere with ordinary comfort or convenience of clients and so reported the erection of the billboard to police which led to the arrest of the two and their prosecution.