Defence pokes holes in state's case in Jayden-Lee murder trial with Bolt trip timeline evidence
Tiffany Meek, 31, from Fleurhof, accused of killing her 11-year-old son, faces charges of murder, crimen injuria, attempting to defeat or obstruct the course of justice, and defeating or obstructing the administration of justice.
Meek's legal representative, advocate Noven Naidoo, handed over records of e-hailing service Bolt showing she only left her mother's house at 5:12am on the morning of May 14, contradicting a security guard's statement that Meek entered her residence at 4am and departed at 5am.
According to the records, Meek was picked up at her mother's house and dropped off at the Swazi Place complex at 5:22am, after she allegedly received a phone call informing her that her son's body had been found near the staircase of her house.
Meek's attorney argued that this documented timeline proves Meek could not have been at her residence between 4am and 5am, as claimed in the guard's occurrence book (OB) entries.
In addition to the timeline dispute, the court heard there were discrepancies in the descriptions of what Jayden-Lee was wearing on the day he disappeared. The descriptions provided by the mother, a teacher and the security guard differed.
'My client will state that she helped him get dressed that morning, and he was wearing grey long pants, a white shirt, a tie and black takkies on the day,' Naidoo submitted.
Investigating officer Sgt Linda Duma said he could not comment on what the child was wearing on the day he disappeared because he got the information from the people who had seen Jayden-Lee on the day.
Naidoo also drew the court's attention to inconsistencies in the OB kept at the complex gate.
Copies of the OB for May 13 and 14 presented in court reflected that the first recorded report of Jayden-Lee's disappearance was only made after 8pm on May 13, long after Meek claims she notified the security guard at about 5pm. According to Naidoo, Meek had informed the day shift guard her son was missing, left her contact number and told him to call her if the boy returned. No such entry exists in the OB.
Naidoo questioned why no earlier note was made and pressed the investigating officer on whether pages might be missing. He said on the day Jayden-Lee's body was found, Meek's family had attempted to photograph the OB book and noticed a missing page.
'There is no record of this in the OB,' the investigating officer responded and acknowledged that he did not certify the OB book copies submitted to court, citing a heavy workload.
Questions also emerged around the legality of the security guards. When asked about their immigration status, Duma admitted he did not know, confirming only that they were Congolese nationals. Naidoo pointed out that South African law prohibited undocumented foreign nationals from being employed in the private security industry.
The bail hearing will continue Friday.
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