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Pretoria – One of the five men accused of assaulting a couple at a KFC in Pretoria, allegedly assaulted petrol pump attendants and called them the K-word.
However, police said he never answered to the charges in Petrus Steyn in the Free State and instead moved to Johannesburg.
Last week, Marius Harding, 23, abandoned his bid for bail in the Pretoria North Magistrate’s Court for the assault of the couple in the KFC incident.
Read more: 3 of 5 KFC assault accused apply for bail
The court also heard that Harding had an outstanding warrant of arrest.
News24 can now reveal that Harding was arrested in 2014 for allegedly assaulting three petrol pump attendants at a fuel station in the small town of Petrus Steyn.
Harding, who was 19 at the time, appeared in court alongside Jordaan Barend, 18, and Winston Brinklow, 23. The trio, who worked for a construction company at the time, appeared in court on the same day as their arrest on June 17, 2014.
The case was then postponed to June 20, 2014, for a formal bail application, and all three accused were released on bail. The bail amount was not stipulated in the docket.
“They were charged with common assault and crimen injuria. The case was postponed to October 29th 2014 but the suspects did not attend court and a warrant of arrest was issued,” said police spokesperson Sergeant Sinah Mpakane.
Harding, Barend and Brinklow have to date not been traced on their given addresses.
Mpakane added that the case was also referred to the Director of Public Prosecutions because "the victims were also called 'k*****s'".
Charges
The five accused in the KFC matter, Harding, Ockert Muller, 20, Stephan Nel, 39, DJ van Rooyen, 21 and Joshua Schultz, 21, are facing charges of attempted murder, assault with the intent to do grievous bodily harm, and pointing a firearm.
Read: Mbalula lauds police in swift arrest of KFC attackers
In their bail applications, Nel, Schultz, and Van Rooyen claimed that the couple, a husband and wife, were the aggressors.
JC Erasmus, for Van Rooyen, read an affidavit into record in which he claimed the couple attacked Muller. "At that point, I intervened and hit him (the husband) with clenched fists," Van Rooyen said.
Schultz’s advocate Francois Kriel said Schultz had no history of violent behaviour and that the evidence would show that he was not the aggressor in the situation.
'Medical condition'
JJ Bornman, for Nel, said his client had many medical conditions and he had a mild heart attack when he was 30.
"Stressful situations, in particular my incarceration, are life threatening to me," Bornman read from Nel’s affidavit.
WATCH: Second video of KFC assault emerges
At this stage, the court has not yet heard any evidence of Harding’s involvement in the incident.
The State opposed bail, due to public outrage and the perception that the assault was racially motivated. Prosecutor Ronnie Sibanda said witnesses, who worked at the KFC, were scared.
Magistrate Motlhoki Rapulana postponed the bail application to August 18
