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Ipid welcomes lengthy sentence for 'rogue cop' who killed foreign national

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate has welcomed the long sentence imposed on a former constable who shot and killed a Nigerian national.
The Independent Police Investigative Directorate has welcomed the long sentence imposed on a former constable who shot and killed a Nigerian national.
Image: Allan Swart/123RF

A rogue former police constable who shot dead a Nigerian man and robbed two other people at gunpoint during a raid in Durban has been sentenced to 30 years behind bars.

The Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) said its investigation into the incident, on January 19 2018, had helped secure a lengthy sentence for Austin Reynold, 24.

Reynold was sentenced by the high court in Durban on Monday after being convicted of murdering Nigerian Ebuka Emmanuel Okoli.

“The constable shot dead an adult Nigerian male and robbed two other people of their belongings at gunpoint,” said Ipid spokesperson Sontaga Seisa.

Reynold was found guilty on a count of murder and three counts of robbery.

Seisa said the acting executive director of Ipid, Victor Senna, appreciated the hard work done during the investigation led by Len John from the KwaZulu-Natal office that helped secure the conviction.

The president of the Nigerian Union in South Africa, Adetola Olubajo, said the victim had been "robbed, tortured, handcuffed and later shot at close range by the officer, who was off-duty at the time of the raid", according to a report by This Day.

“We have been monitoring the case since the inception and are very grateful and appreciative of the role played by Ipid. Without them, this case would have been one of the numerous unresolved murders of Nigerians in South Africa,” he said.


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