The Western Cape High Court awarded a claim by a McGregor man after the death of his mother in police custody in 2011.
Judge Patrick Gamble ruled on Friday 31 January that the police had failed to protect the deceased from harm and awarded her son thousands of rands for his loss and future medical expenses.
Plaintiff Marius Otto’s mother, Emmerencia, was arrested at her home in McGregor following a complaint of domestic disturbance on Saturday 11 June 2011 at 00:30, following a disagreement with her partner over money. She was held on charges of riotous behaviour, but within an hour of her arrest she had committed suicide in her cell by hanging herself with her shoelaces.
Otto, who was 11 years old at the time, claimed the police were negligent in the manner in which they detained his mother.
He claimed damages for loss of support from his mother, a seasonal worker, and future medical expenses as he was diagnosed with major mood disorder.
During the trial, which started in February 2023 after several postponements, the court heard that police officers that night found themselves in a catch-22 situation.
They were required to remove any items a detainee could use to harm themselves, but Otto refused to let them take her shoelaces. Only a female officer was allowed to search her, but none were on duty that night.
As on previous occasions, the police phoned for a female officer to come from Robertson to do the search. While an officer was being fetched an unruly mob arrived and demanded to see Otto. While the officer in the charge office was distracted by the mob Otto committed suicide.
Judge Gamble found that the police failed to protect the deceased from harm and ordered Otto be paid almost R400 000 in damages. In terms of future costs, he should also receive R75 000 to be admitted to The Pines in Worcester for 21 days, R3 300 for 21 psychotherapy sessions and R2 000 per session for a further 80 sessions.
Following this, he will be granted R2 000 a month for medication for the remainder of his anticipated life span.
