Magistrate Ezra Morrison withdrew rape charges against the teenager later accused of killing Deveney Nel, despite a psychiatrist's warning about his violent tendencies.

The court presiding over Nel's murder case now wants to know why.

The Department of Justice told News24 that, while the appearance of Nel's alleged murderer in the Caledon Magistrate's Court was held in camera because he is 17 and a minor, it could confirm that the magistrate in that case had noted that: ‘The NPA will answer why the matter was removed from the roll (violent rape matter) in the previous case’ when it returns to court next month.

The NPA confirmed that the magistrate in that first rape case was Morrison, who had been serving as an acting magistrate at the time. 

Morrison had been presiding over the Circuit Court in Albertinia when the violent rape case against Nel's accused killer came before her.

News24 reports that she appears to have ignored the horrific violence of that attack and the warnings of psychiatric experts when she effectively let the accused teenage rapist loose on the unsuspecting public in August last year.

The department said it is unable to provide answers on why this had happened because ‘engaging with the magistrate will constitute interference in the work of the judiciary by the department’.

It added that the Magistrates' Commission, which is empowered to investigate alleged misconduct by magistrates, was best placed to address the questions about Morrison's actions in this case.

The mother of the 11-year-old girl who Deveney's murder suspect was accused of violently raping four years ago, has told News24 that she had been forced to turn to lawyers to get access to the charge sheet in the case.

Full News24 report