SA citizenship on the cards for UK paedo
An alleged paedophile wanted in the UK could eventually apply for citizenship in South Africa, a court heard.
|||Cape Town - An alleged paedophile wanted in the UK for sexual offences could eventually apply for citizenship in South Africa, because he has been living in Cape Town for more than 15 years, a court heard on Monday.
Lee Tucker, 52, is wanted in the UK for a series of sexual offences involving young boys.
On Monday, magistrate Grant Engle of the Cape Town Community Court asked if South African citizenship was on the cards for Tucker.
Advocate Reuben Liddell, for Tucker, replied that his client could apply for citizenship of the country.
Acting on an arrest warrant granted by a magistrate in Pretoria, the police’s Crime Intelligence Unit and Family Violence, Child Protection and Sexual Offences Investigation Unit apprehended Tucker last month.
The fugitive had been working as a helicopter pilot and IT specialist while in South Africa.
Tucker, originally from Swansea in Wales, was arrested in Bristol in 1998 as part of a paedophile ring that allegedly targeted boys between the ages of 12 and 15.
He allegedly committed 42 counts of indecent assault in the UK, an affidavit by a police warrant officer stationed at Interpol’s extradition desk in Pretoria read.
Liddell motioned in court that indecent assault is no longer an offence in South Africa, an aspect that will be argued in the Cape Town Community Court. Liddell asked which schedule offence indecent assault would ascribe to.
The magistrate detailed that more than one boy had testified at the Swindon Crown Court about performing sexual acts on Tucker and his co-accused. One boy said he was given a “stupefying” drug while performing the sexual acts.
Tucker was found guilty of a series of child sex assaults in 2000 and handed an eight-year jail sentence.
Tucker was then acquitted after a successful appeal in the Swindon Crown Court.
In that same year, he fled to Cape Town.
During his absence, the eight charges against Tucker and his co-accused were reinstated.
Tucker maintains his father had informed him about the acquittal, but not the re-trial, and he was therefore unaware.
Engle delivered his ruling on objections raised in the extradition case and found that Tucker was regarded as a fugitive of justice. “The matter against Tucker is not prescribed; the prescription was well interrupted when a warrant for Tucker’s arrest was issued and possibly because Tucker fled the country (UK).
“The fact that the warrant of arrest refers to indecent assault does not render the application ineffective as South Africa has corresponding legislation. The fact that prosecution was not instituted against him by July 29, 2002 is due to no fault of the prosecuting authorities as Tucker was a fugitive of justice at the time,” Magistrate Engle said.
When Liddell asked what the ruling meant in terms of Tucker’s bail application, Engle said that “being a fugitive of justice does not mean he will not get bail. All accused are innocent until proven guilty”.
The case was postponed to Thursday for the State to supply the defence with affidavits, after which the defence will have an opportunity to argue in support of bail and submit further documentation, which includes affidavits.
Cape Argus