Jones brothers’ appeal bid starts on foul note

A FOUL-MOUTHED torrent of verbal abuse directed at a High Court Judge last week marked the return of brothers Chris and Ian Jones to the court where they were sentenced to a total of 111 years of imprisonment in November last year.

If ever the High Court in Windhoek has been the scene of the sort of temper tantrum that erupted in the courtroom where the Jones brothers appeared before Judge Sylvester Mainga on Wednesday last week, it has been many years since such a spectacle had played out in those normally hallowed halls of justice. The two brothers, who were convicted on charges of murder, housebreaking and robbery with aggravating circumstances, and kidnapping in November last year, had returned to the court to launch an application for leave to appeal against their convictions and the marathon prison terms that they received from Judge Mainga on November 8 last year.Judge Mainga sentenced Ian Jones (27) to an effective 61 years’ imprisonment, while Chris Jones (30) was sentenced to 50 years in jail.They had been convicted in connection with the robbery, kidnapping and murder of a Windhoek businessman in February 2002.Their appeal bid got off to a troubled start, though, when Judge Mainga directed – with the agreement not only of State Advocate Leonie Dunn, but also of defence counsel Jorge Neves and Lucius Murorua – that the application for leave to appeal had to be struck off the court roll because it was not before the court in a proper form.In essence, the hand-written notices from the two convicted men that had been sent to the court did not set out proper reasons why they thought they should be allowed to appeal to the Supreme Court.Mere moments after Judge Mainga had announced that the application was being struck off the roll and that the court would adjourn, and with the Judge on his way out of court, Chris Jones lost his temper and exploded in a verbal tirade directed at the Judge.Shouting out a series of obscenities in Afrikaans at the Judge, Jones descended into the gutter in his choice of words to vent his anger.Within five minutes, Judge Mainga had been called back into the court and Dunn informed him of the scene that played out as he turned his back to leave the court.Among the slurs that Jones hurled at the Judge, were the Afrikaans equivalent of “you c***”, “you black c***”, “your mother’s c***”, and “you do not know what you are doing, you cannot do your job,” Dunn told the Judge.Both Neves, who represented Chris Jones during the brothers’ trial last year, and Murorua, who represented Ian Jones in the last stage of the trial, immediately distanced themselves from the outburst and told Judge Mainga that they were withdrawing from the case.That was not to be the end of the rumpus in court, however.Having been told of Chris Jones’s outburst, Judge Mainga directed that the matter should be referred to the Office of the Prosecutor General for a decision whether Jones will face new charges over his conduct in court.That issue will have to be dealt with before the brothers’ application for leave to appeal may be placed back on the court’s roll, he also ordered.After the court had adjourned for a second time, it was Ian Jones’s turn to be involved in a ruckus.While Judge Mainga was still in court, he complained that Neves had insulted his mother by telling the court – when Neves addressed the Judge last year in mitigation of the sentences that were to be handed to the duo – that their parents no longer wanted to have anything to do with them.Neves threw down a challenge for Jones when he raised this complaint with the court.”(I)f Mr Ian Jones feels that I have insulted his mother he can proceed with whatever legal steps he can (…) but I’m man enough and he should be very careful because inside court I’m a court official but outside court I’m not, ” the lawyer told Judge Mainga.”If he intends to continue with this kind of insulting then I will on record in this court dare him to confront me outside because my integrity, my good name that I have in this country is not to be dragged through the mud by a criminal, that is what he is and for that he can even lay a charge against me,” Neves said.Ian Jones’s response after the court had adjourned was to attack Neves with a stack of documents, which he used to hit the lawyer over the head.With Neves ready to retaliate, a group of Police officers had to intervene to separate them and stop a physical brawl from breaking out in court.Ian Jones steadfastly denied his guilt – despite having made a videotaped confession in which he admitted that he had shot dead the late businessman Gero Schaum – throughout the trial.Since having been sentenced, he has changed his tune, the notice of his application to be allowed to appeal against the court’s sentence indicates.In it, Jones states, in his own words: “Sir from the beginning of this case I have been rongfully advised from inmates that are here in prison not to plea guilty but to fight this case.They put to me the sentence that the judge is going to apose on me and told me the only way to ever go home is to plea not guilty.(…) Sir for what I now know I would have pleaded guilty and told the state the true story and if I can get an chance I will do so.Sir I have an gr 8 (St 6) education degree.Sir first I want to tell the court that I know what I dit was very rong and that is why I want to tell the true story to this case.”(sic) He added that his mother was very ill and that he wanted to have the prospect of being able to get out of prison one day in order to take care of her.He stated: “Sir I have no children and my mother is my whole life and I want to know that if I could turn back the time I would defenitely turn the time back so that every body that have come to harm, can have back the love and joy they had before this incident for I am truly sorry for what I did and if I can get that opportunity to tell the family of the deceased I would.”(sic)The two brothers, who were convicted on charges of murder, housebreaking and robbery with aggravating circumstances, and kidnapping in November last year, had returned to the court to launch an application for leave to appeal against their convictions and the marathon prison terms that they received from Judge Mainga on November 8 last year.Judge Mainga sentenced Ian Jones (27) to an effective 61 years’ imprisonment, while Chris Jones (30) was sentenced to 50 years in jail.They had been convicted in connection with the robbery, kidnapping and murder of a Windhoek businessman in February 2002.Their appeal bid got off to a troubled start, though, when Judge Mainga directed – with the agreement not only of State Advocate Leonie Dunn, but also of defence counsel Jorge Neves and Lucius Murorua – that the application for leave to appeal had to be struck off the court roll because it was not before the court in a proper form.In essence, the hand-written notices from the two convicted men that had been sent to the court did not set out proper reasons why they thought they should be allowed to appeal to the Supreme Court.Mere moments after Judge Mainga had announced that the application was being struck off the roll and that the court would adjourn, and with the Judge on his way out of court, Chris Jones lost his temper and exploded in a verbal tirade directed at the Judge.Shouting out a series of obscenities in Afrikaans at the Judge, Jones descended into the gutter in his choice of words to vent his anger.Within five minutes, Judge Mainga had been called back into the court and Dunn informed him of the scene that played out as he turned his back to leave the court.Among the slurs that Jones hurled at the Judge, were the Afrikaans equivalent of “you c***”, “you black c***”, “your mother’s c***”, and “you do not know what you are doing, you cannot do your job,” Dunn told the Judge.Both Neves, who represented Chris Jones during the brothers’ trial last year, and Murorua, who represented Ian Jones in the last stage of the trial, immediately distanced themselves from the outburst and told Judge Mainga that they were withdrawing from the case.That was not to be the end of the rumpus in court, however.Having been told of Chris Jones’s outburst, Judge Mainga directed that the matter should be referred to the Office of the Prosecutor General for a decision whether Jones will face new charges over his conduct in court.That issue will have to be dealt with before the brothers’ application for leave to appeal may be placed back on the court’s roll, he also ordered.After the court had adjourned for a second time, it was Ian Jones’s turn to be involved in a ruckus.While Judge Mainga was still in court, he complained that Neves had insulted his mother by telling the court – when Neves addressed the Judge last year in mitigation of the sentences that were to be handed to the duo – that their parents no longer wanted to have anything to do with them.Neves threw down a challenge for Jones when he raised this complaint with the court.”(I)f Mr Ian Jones feels that I have insulted his mother he can proceed with whatever legal steps he can (…) but I’m man enough and he should be very careful because inside court I’m a court official but outside court I’m not, ” the lawyer told Judge Mainga.”If he intends to continue with this kind of insulting then I will on record in this court dare him to confront me outside because my integrity, my good name that I have in this country is not to be dragged through the mud by a criminal, that is what he is and for that he can even lay a charge against me,” Neves said.Ian Jones’s response after the court had adjourned was to attack Neves with a stack of documents, which he used to hit the lawyer over the head.With Neves ready to retaliate, a group of Police officers had to intervene to separate them and stop a physical brawl from breaking out in court.Ian Jones steadfastly denied his guilt – despite having made a videotaped confession in which he admitted that he had shot dead the late businessman Gero Schaum – throughout the trial.Since having been sentenced, he has changed his tune, the notice of his application to be allowed to appeal against the court’s sentence indicates.In it, Jones states, in his own words: “Sir from the beginning of this case I have been rongfully advised from inmates that are here in prison not to plea guilty but to fight this case.They put to me the sentence that the judge is going to apose on me and told me the only way to ever go home is to plea not guilty.(…) Sir for what I now know I would have pleaded guilty and told the state the true story and if I can get an chance I will do so.Sir I have an gr 8 (St 6) education degree.Sir first I want to tell the court that I know what I dit was very rong and that is why I want to tell the true story to this case.”(sic) He added that his mother was very ill and that he wanted to have the prospect of being able to get out of prison one day in order to take care of her.He stated: “Sir I have no children and my mother is my whole life and I want to know that if I could turn back the time I would defenitely turn the time back so that every body that have come to harm, can have back the love and joy they had before this incident for I am truly sorry for what I did and if I can get that opportunity to tell the family of the deceased I would.”(sic)