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Cape Town train fire suspect faces 30 days of psychiatric assessment

A fireman sprints along a platform at Cape Town's central railway station as a train burns. The alleged arsonists has been referred for psychiatric observation. File photo.
A fireman sprints along a platform at Cape Town's central railway station as a train burns. The alleged arsonists has been referred for psychiatric observation. File photo.
Image: Anthony Molyneaux

The alleged train arsonist who made a confession in court last week appeared quietly in the Cape Town Magistrate's Court on Thursday.  

Having assessed Thobela Xoseni's mental state, the district surgeon suggested he be referred for 30 days' psychiatric observation.

Xoseni, who stood at the dock wearing a large black suit jacket with no shirt, said nothing during the proceedings, in stark comparison to his outbursts a week earlier when he declared: "I burnt the trains."

He will be kept in the hospital wing at Pollsmoor Prison in Tokai until his next court appearance on June 3.

The 30-year-old from Khayelitsha is accused of setting alight two trains at Cape Town station on Easter Sunday, causing damage put at R33m.


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