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Durban court postpones marine murder trial

Durban - The case against a man accused of beating a former Royal Marine to death was postponed in the Durban Regional Court on Wednesday.

The case against Blayne Shepard was postponed to 16 February to set a date for closing argument and judgment.

Shepard and three others were accused of beating Brett Williams to death outside Durban's Kings Park Stadium on the night of 23 March 2013, after the Sharks played the Melbourne Rebels in a Super Rugby match.

Five people were initially accused of killing Williams. Grant Cramer turned State witness. Andries van der Merwe, Dustin van Wyk, and Shepard's older brother Kyle, were discharged last month.

They had each faced a charge of murder, three of assault with intent to do grievous bodily harm, one of crimen injuria, and one of public violence.

Magistrate Trevor Levitt ruled "uneasily" that the evidence against the three did not reach the required standards of a trial.

He ruled that Shepard should be tried for murder but discharged him on all other counts.

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