A dad plans to sue a cop for defamation and emotional trauma damages after a picture of his stepson was posted on Facebook.
|||Western Cape - A Gordon’s Bay father plans to sue a city police officer for defamation and emotional trauma damages after a picture of his stepson was posted on her Facebook page, calling him a vark (pig) for allegedly stealing her son’s cellphone.
Philip Brink, 53, said his family was horrified when they discovered that a high-ranking police officer had publicly threatened his stepson and another man, accusing them of stealing phones from her son and his friends two weeks ago.
He plans to sue her for R500 000 damages for the defamation and emotional trauma the officer’s post has caused for the rest of the family by exposing the family to public humiliation.
After the robbery on April 4 the officer’s status read, in Afrikaans: “Tonight my son and his friends were robbed by two pigs of their cellphones, and the pigs still brag they are going to stab them to death, as they stabbed to death another child at the shop... They assaulted the children and poured alcohol down their throats.”
Brink’s 20-year-old stepson, Kyle Yon handed himself in and appeared in the Strand Magistrate’s Court on theft charges on Thursday.
Police are still searching for Yon’s friend who was also allegedly involved.
Yon remained in custody.
Brink accused the officer and police of inciting violence on the internet.
“She (the officer) went online and posted pictures of them without knowing if they were guilty or not. She also accused them of being involved in the stabbing of another young man that my 13-year-old daughter and her friends knew. My wife hasn’t slept since,” he said.
Brink said he reported the officer to the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid) for further investigation.
barbara.maregele@inl.co.za
Cape Times