Cape Town - The wife of alleged 28s gang boss Ralph Stanfield will remain in prison after the Western Cape High court dismissed her bail appeal and lambasted her for being a “liar”.
In a scathing judgment, Judge Hayley Slingers, on Monday took issue with various aspects of the claims made by Nicole Johnson in her failed bail applications.
Johnson was arrested alongside Stanfield in their plush Constantia home late last year by the Anti-Gang Unit after intense investigations into a botched hit on a former employee.
The controversial duo appeared alongside Johannes “Bal” Abrahams, Denver Booysen and Jose Brand in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court on charges linked to the manhunt of a former employee after he allegedly stole more than R1 million from the couple.
During the explosive bail hearings, it was revealed that the former employee, who is now a State witness, had not arrived at work on November 24, 2022, after a tip-off that Stanfield planned to “kill” him.
The witness then hid his girlfriend’s BMW in a complex in Milnerton and went into hiding.
According to the State, Stanfield and Johnson embarked on a “witchhunt” and even threatened the father of the witness, smacked an unsuspecting neighbour, and took the car without the owner’s permission.
Johnson’s bail was initially denied. She subsequently brought a new application at the same court based on new facts including the health of her teen daughter. But her application was dealt a blow when the State played an audio recording from Tracker showing she had allegedly committed fraud. Johnson’s legal team argued she had the owner’s permission to call Tracker. But Judge Slingers found: “The evidence shows Johnson resented the employee who stole from her and felt she was entitled to, in her words, do what she had to do, which evidently included taking the law into her own hands.”
The judge also highlighted Johnson’s failure to reveal that she received R70000 as income from the Ayepyep Nightclub during her bail hearings.
The judge referred to Johnson’s plans to obtain residency in Dubai as a reason why she could evade trial; and said as a law student, she was not a lay person completely ignorant of the law.
In conclusion, the judge noted that should Johnson be released, the court was of the view that she would attempt to influence or intimidate witnesses, and destroy evidence.“A holistic analysis of the evidence portrays Johnson as a person who does what she needs to, even if this means being deceptive and taking the law into her own hands.
“She does not hesitate to lie and give false evidence if she thinks it will benefit her. Such a person does not respect the legal system and would not hesitate to undermine the criminal justice system.”
Cape Argus