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McBride heavily in debt: report

Johannesurg - Former Ekurhuleni metro police chief Robert McBride is "heavily indebted" and needs to start looking for a job, City Press has reported (May 5).

"I owe lots of people money," McBride told the newspaper. "I had to sell lots of my things. Fortunately some of my family, friends and comrades assisted me." McBride allegedly spent R1.7-million on legal fees.

On Friday (May 3) the State lost its bid to appeal against McBride's acquittal on charges of drunken driving and attempting to obstruct justice.

CRASHED OFFICIAL CAR

The High Court in Pretoria ruled that the prosecution had not raised any new question of law that the Supreme Court of Appeal should consider.

McBride was arrested in 2006 after crashing his official car on the R511 near Hartebeespoort dam after a Christmas party. Pretoria Regional Court magistrate Peet Johnson sentenced him to five years' jail in September 2011 but he appealed to the High Court in Pretoria. Judges Cynthia Pretorius and Lettie Malopa-Setshosa acquitted him in March 2013 on the grounds that the State had not proved its case beyond a reasonable doubt, despite McBride's "strange" behaviour.

They set aside McBride's five-year prison sentence. The State applied for leave to appeal against the ruling on various technical grounds.

'GOOD TO WIN'

City Press reported McBride felt vindicated, but angry. "It's good to win, especially when you know it's a personal issue against you and not a matter of law," he was quoted as saying.

"Despite the judges' findings of police manipulation and evidence fabrication, there seems to be a lack of interest in the real issue behind the whole saga - the involvement of the SA Police Service in violent crime."
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