LilMtnCbn
02-07-2005, 06:43 AM
http://www.news24.com/News24/South_Africa/News/0,,2-7-1442_1658438,00.html
Killer makes unique demand
06/02/2005 22:44 - (SA)
Philip de Bruin
Johannesburg - A killer, serving 10 years in prison, wants the court to force
his two reluctant teenage sons to visit him in prison, "under duress" if need
be.
Stuart McDonald, a former accountant, brought this application before the
Durban High Court because he wants the opportunity to "forge ties with his
sons", who are 13 and 17 years old.
McDonald is divorced from the mother of the boys.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1999 after he shot and killed a
friend of their mother's and also shot one of her relatives in the chest.
On appeal his sentence was reduced by 10 years.
Meanwhile, his ex-wife remarried, and her new husband legally adopted the boys
in 2003.
Their names were also changed, and have been withheld on legal advice.
Jackie Branfield, convener of the organisation Operation Bobby Bear, which is
supporting the boys in the application, said on Sunday McDonald's "almost
unbelievable" application is disrupting the boys' lives terribly.
"They are hysterical with fear that they could be forced to visit their
biological father in prison. They fear him."
Both the sons and their mother applied for court orders to protect them from
McDonald.
He is fighting these applications.
Over and above his sons' prison visits, McDonald requires various other court
orders, including that their adoption by their stepfather be set aside, that
they be placed in foster care, that their passports be entrusted to his family
and that his family may obtain custody of the boys over weekends.
The judge transferred McDonald's application to the family court in
Pietermaritzburg.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
Killer makes unique demand
06/02/2005 22:44 - (SA)
Philip de Bruin
Johannesburg - A killer, serving 10 years in prison, wants the court to force
his two reluctant teenage sons to visit him in prison, "under duress" if need
be.
Stuart McDonald, a former accountant, brought this application before the
Durban High Court because he wants the opportunity to "forge ties with his
sons", who are 13 and 17 years old.
McDonald is divorced from the mother of the boys.
He was sentenced to 20 years in prison in 1999 after he shot and killed a
friend of their mother's and also shot one of her relatives in the chest.
On appeal his sentence was reduced by 10 years.
Meanwhile, his ex-wife remarried, and her new husband legally adopted the boys
in 2003.
Their names were also changed, and have been withheld on legal advice.
Jackie Branfield, convener of the organisation Operation Bobby Bear, which is
supporting the boys in the application, said on Sunday McDonald's "almost
unbelievable" application is disrupting the boys' lives terribly.
"They are hysterical with fear that they could be forced to visit their
biological father in prison. They fear him."
Both the sons and their mother applied for court orders to protect them from
McDonald.
He is fighting these applications.
Over and above his sons' prison visits, McDonald requires various other court
orders, including that their adoption by their stepfather be set aside, that
they be placed in foster care, that their passports be entrusted to his family
and that his family may obtain custody of the boys over weekends.
The judge transferred McDonald's application to the family court in
Pietermaritzburg.
-------------------------
A good friend will come and bail you out of jail . . . but, a true friend will
be sitting next to you saying, "Damn . . . that was fun!"
-----Unknown
