BUSINESSMAN Yit Barek Tekie yesterday denied charges of hitting and injuring another businessman’s horse with his car on the streets of Harare’s affluent suburb of Borrowdale, saying the allegations were aimed at “fixing” him.
Tekie told the court that the allegations stemmed from the
bad blood between him and Mr John Taylor that started from a commercial
transaction wherein he bought all the shareholding held by Mr Taylor in a
company called FeedMix (Pvt) Limited.
Taylor was a director at FeedMix.
Tekie is appearing at the Harare Magistrates Court charged
with cruelty against animals. Through his lawyer, Mr Oscar Gasva, Tekie told
the court that the horse, which was allegedly injured during the altercation,
was calm and stead, and showed no signs of infuriation or being terrified on
the day in question.
“The complainant and the accused have a bad relationship
background which emanated from a commercial transaction wherein the accused
purchased all of the shareholding held by the complainant in a company called
FeedMix,” said Mr Gasva.
“The dispute concerning FeedMix shareholding is currently
at arbitral award stage wherein the complainant breached the agreement between
him and the accused person. Thus, these present allegations are fabricated and
meant to fix the accused person.
“The accused person has also been a complainant in two
criminal cases against the complainant, which involved fraud and conspiracy to
commit murder.”
Tekie denied hooting, driving his car circling Mr Taylor
and his horse, injuring it in the process.
He said the alleged veterinary report was as a result of
fabrication.
“The horse was inspected by the officer-in-charge of
Borrowdale Police Station on the day in question and it did not have the
alleged injury,” he said.
The lawyer said Tekie was well-versed with horse handling,
as he is a horse-rider with 30 years experience.
“The accused person has an in-depth knowledge with horses,
as he is and experienced horse rider and been a Polo player for more than 30
years,” he said.
Tekie told the court that Mr Taylor hurt his horse on his
own as he was fleeing from the house of a witness, Ms Vanessa Evershed, in the
arbitration case where he had committed an offence.
He said Ms Evershed stays 12km from Mr Taylor’s place.
“The complainant is the one who was fleeing from a scene of
crime where he had committed a conduct which was criminal nuisance in nature at
the house of one Vanessa Evershed, which is 12km away from the complainant’s
place of residence.
“Vanessa Evershed was a witness in the commercial
transaction of the sale of shares of FeedMix dispute, who testified unfavourably
against the complainant,” he said.
Tekie said Mr Taylor was charged with criminal nuisance and
the matter is pending at the Harare Magistrates Court.
The State led by Mr Thomas Chanakira and Miss Sithembiso
Moyo applied to tender a picture showing the wound sustained by the horse on
its leg through Mr Taylor, a State witness, as an exhibit.
Mr Gasva objected to tendering of the picture saying it was
not showing whether it was a horse or a leg of another animal.
He also doubted the authenticity of the picture,
questioning its production and origin.
Harare magistrate Mrs Barbra Mateko asked the State to
produce certified copies of the pictures for them to be admitted into the
record as exhibit.
It was when Mr Taylor indicated that he deleted the picture
from his phone, which he said was used to take the photograph.
Ms Moyo then applied for the matter to be postponed to
April 11 to allow the State to retrieve the deleted picture from Mr Taylor’s
phone. Herald
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