Five reasons why Miguel Louw murder accused was denied bail

The man accused of the kidnapping and murder of Miguel Louw, Mohammed Ebrahim, struggled to contain his anger as he lashed out at magistrate Sifiso Luthuli while being led back to the cells at the Durban Regional Court on Friday.

"This is an injustice," he screamed, pointing his finger skyward in the dock.

Luthuli struggled to calm the 43-year-old butcher, who faces the prospect of remaining behind bars until the culmination of his trial.

"I know you are not happy, but you are not allowed to vent out your anger and dissatisfaction in this fashion. You will speak to your attorney about whatever you are not happy with," Luthuli said from the bench.

Here are the five important notes from Luthuli’s bail judgment:

• "I think that the case against the accused is strong. There is evidence of an eyewitness who saw him fetching the child from school. When he was arrested, he did not disclose to the police that he was with the deceased on the afternoon Louw disappeared. Only after he was confronted with footage proving this did he change his version."
• "Except for the say-so of the accused, there is no evidence to show that his parents are dependent on him. I reject his contention that he maintains his parents. He may contribute to the household but that does not mean they are dependent on him."
• "The accused was a poor witness in my view. He was argumentative and evasive. He was economical with the details of his version. His attitude was that he should only disclose to the court what he is asked. He did not tell the mother he had bought the child [a meal at] KFC because she didn’t ask him. In my view, that is disingenuous. He intentionally misled her, saying that the deceased must be at home, while knowing she was desperately looking for her son."
• "He said he didn’t help her [Miguel Louw’s mother] look for her son because she didn’t ask him, yet he said they were lovers and that he cared for the missing child."
• "I also find that there is a likelihood, if he is released on bail, that he would attempt to influence or intimidate witnesses. He has already sourced a sim card not RICA’d in his name and contacted Louw’s mother. He also misled the police about this."

The nine-year-old boy went missing from Sydenham on July 17 2018 and was last seen alive with Ebrahim.

His decomposed remains were found in September in Phoenix, less than 100m from Ebrahim’s family home. 

The court previously heard that Ebrahim, who worked as a butcher, had slept in a shed on a foam mattress after becoming estranged from his family.

He entered Miguel’s life as an acquaintance of the boy’s mother, Raylene. The two worked at the same butchery. Ebrahim lived with Miguel and his mother at their Sydenham home for two weeks, before mother and lodger had an altercation. 

When he was first arrested‚ he was found in possession of Miguel’s original birth certificate and Raylene’s identity document.

He will return to court on January 31 2019, facing charges of murder, kidnapping and theft.