LAWYER: THABANI’S INJURIES NOT CONSISTENT WITH ACCIDENT

MATSAPHA – The injuries sustained by the late Thabani Nkomonye are not consistent with wounds from a car accident, according to the legal team representing the deceased’s family.

Lawyer Gigi Reid, who is one of the attorneys representing the family of Thabani in the ongoing inquest into the death of the 25-year-old Law student, put it to the Police Pathologist, Dr Komma Reddy, when cross-examining him yesterday. The inquest is held at His Majesty’s Correctional Services (HMCS) College in Matsapha. Lawyer Reid was cross-examining the doctor about the cause of death of Thabani and this followed one (cross-examination) which was done by Advocate Mduduzi ‘Tsotsi’ Mabila, who cross-examined the same witness about the matter of Thabani’s death.

Pathologist

The lawyer (Reid) told the Coroner, Senior Magistrate Nonhlanhla Dlamini, that in his evidence, the pathologist submitted the bones of the base of the skull and occipital bones were fractured. “In fact, he submitted that in the brain, meninges and cerebral vasculature, there were extra-dural (external) and intra-cerebral (internal) haemorrhage present. This means that the brain was extensively damaged,” the lawyer submitted. Thereafter, the lawyer asked the witness if it was possible for someone to suffer such extensive injuries on the head and not have any injury on the neck.  She asked if this made any sense or corresponded with injuries which should be suffered by someone who got a car accident.

In response, the police pathologist alleged that it was common that a person could have head injuries without being injured on the neck and that one could have neck injuries, but not have wounds on the head. However, Reid submitted that after one had sustained such injuries, a person would expect that there would be a wound on the neck too. “I cannot answer this,” the police pathologist said. Afterwards, Reid asked if there was such bleeding in the brain, did it (brain) function. In his response, the doctor submitted that the amount of blood which was found in the brain allegedly affected it, especially respiration and beating of the heart, which meant that the body may stop functioning.

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