A heated exchange between Magistrate Kriban Pillay, presiding over alleged wife killer Arnold Terblanche’s bail application, and defence attorney Peter Daubermann played out in the Gqeberha Magistrate’s Court yesterday.

This after Pillay ruled that he would not give judgment at an earlier date, reports HeraldLIVE.

Daubermann and state advocate Marius Stander approached Pillay in chambers where Daubermann informed him that Terblanche was ‘dissatisfied’ with the court’s decision to only pass down judgment on 19 January 2023. 

Pillay informed Daubermann in court that after considering his request, he was unable to change the date as he was inundated with other bail applications which needed to be dealt with before he went on leave on 15 December.

A furious Daubermann told Pillay that during their discussions in chambers he had indicated that he would bring an application to have the judgment heard earlier but, according to him, Pillay had prejudged the matter without hearing the application.

In his application which then followed, Daubermann said it was a matter of urgency for judgment on the bail application based on new facts to be delivered.

He made reference to the High Court order which stated that Pillay should dispose of the matter urgently after it was found that Terblanche had in fact presented new facts in his second bid for bail.

Daubermann told Pillay that it was in the interests of justice for him to sacrifice a few of his leave days to finalise the matter and give judgment on 21 December.

Pillay dismissed the application, ruling that judgment would be handed down on 19 January, according to the previous arrangement.

Meanwhile, Terblanche’s other criminal matter, in which he is accused of conspiring to kill his co-accused and a state witness, and conspiracy to defeat the ends of justice, was postponed to 20 January for further investigation.

Full HeraldLIVE report