Chistopher Panayiotou has had his bail appeal dismissed by the Grahamstown High Court, the decision by Port Elizabeth magistrate Abigail Beaton upheld after today’s proceedings.

The defence team had sought to show that Beaton had erred on a number of crucial matters when denying the man accused of hiring a hit man to murder his wife bail. Judge Glen Goosen upheld the original ruling and delivered the following judgement courtesy of News24:

As the discussion of the several grounds advanced on appeal indicates above I am unable to find that the magistrate erred or misdirected herself in relation to those issues and the findings made…

It was not argued that the magistrate had erred in relation to the test to be applied. It was however suggested in heads of argument, although not argued before me, that the magistrate had set the bar impossibly high in her application of the test of exceptional circumstances to the facts of the case.

I do not agree. The test was applied correctly. The magistrate considered all factors which are ordinarily taken into account and those which the appellant has advanced in his application.

The ruling came as a great relief to Jayde’s mother and sister, both of whom were reduced to tears following the verdict. Mother Michelle described the verdict as the best two seconds of her life and joined supporters in celebrating outside the courthouse.

During a Carte Blanche interview Michelle spoke of the fact that she has yet to receive a single message from the Panayiotou family offering condolences or checking on her family’s wellbeing. The chances of that occurring now, in the wake of this ruling, have gone from slim to none.

[sources:iol&news24]