Cop’s culpable homicide trial starts

THE trial of Sergeant Hendrik Jobs, accused of knocking over and killing a woman, started in the Keetmanshoop Magistrate’s Court this week.
Jobs has pleaded not guilty to charges of culpable homicide, reckless and negligent driving and drunken driving.

Jobs was allegedly speeding and jumping red traffic lights when he struck Elizabeth Smith while she was crossing the road at the Sam Nujoma and Fifth Avenue intersection at Keetmanshoop on September 17 2005. After the crash, Smith was kept on a life-support machine but later died in the Windhoek Central State Hospital. Jobs yesterday claimed he had not seen any pedestrian and that the traffic lights were green for him.State Prosecutor Veiko Alexander put it to Jobs that he had caused Smith’s death through dangerous driving while under the influence of alcohol. ‘You were driving under the influence of alcohol, and this affected your driving abilities and judgement,’ said Alexander. ‘Because you were under the influence of alcohol, you took a risk to pass red traffic lights,’ Alexander added. Alexander accused Jobs of fabricating his version under oath, saying he had told different stories to the Police officer on the crime scene and the lawyer who earlier had represented him. The lawyer apparently withdrew from Jobs’s case because of non-payment. ‘Contrasting to your testimony under oath, earlier instructions to your lawyer indicated that you had applied brakes when you saw two pedestrians running over a green traffic light and had hit one of them who was not fast enough to make to the safety. These are material differences,’ Alexander said.Jobs denied that he had been driving drunk but admitted that he had drunk two or three bottles of beer. Jobs also denied that the blood sample indicating his alcohol level at the time of the crash was his. Alexander countered that only the serial numbers indicated in the Police affidavits differed, adding that the CR number and laboratory reference number as indicated on the blood sample corresponded as stated in the Police affidavits. According to Alexander, the difference in the serial numbers was just a typing error. Jobs is conducting his own defence. The trial continues today.luqman@namibian.com.na