A Lavender Hill skollie accused of mercilessly killing a little boy and his gang boss father intends to deny ever being present at the murder scene, the Wynberg Regional Court has heard.
Cole Nel has finally gone on trial for the horror shooting at the home of alleged gang boss, Cheslin Nelson, in October 2022, which claimed his life as well as that of his son Jordan Brown.
The Grade 5 pupil from Prince George Primary School was visiting his father’s home in Shepherd Way when Nel allegedly entered and opened fire on those inside.
During the bail hearings, it emerged that Cole was a member of the Fast Guns gang and frequented the headquarters where he was meant to protect Nelson, who was the gang’s leader.
But while in prison, Cole had secretly joined the Flakkas gang and used his position of trust to get close enough to Nelson to kill him.
On the day of the shooting, he arrived at Nelson’s Wendy house and allegedly hid his firearm in an outside toilet. After scouting who was present, he fetched the gun and returned to open fire.
While many believed Jordan was innocently caught in the hail of bullets aimed at his father and fellow skollies, Magistrate Goolam Bawa referred to the testimonies of witnesses who claim Jordan had been shot first.
Nel was busted by the Anti-Gang Unit and his bail was later denied by Bawa.
He is now facing two counts of murder, four cases of attempted murder, the illegal possession of a firearm and ammunition and charges under the Prevention of Organised Crime Act (Poca).
During proceedings on Thursday, a state witness who cannot be named for safety reasons told the court that she saw Cole enter the home twice on the day of the shooting.
She said and other women were sitting in the lounge while the men were in a hokkie in the backyard and after the shots rang out, she saw Cole flee the house. Another witness told her he was the shooter.
Defence lawyer Anthony Beranato shocked the court when he told the witness that his client would testify that he was never present at the scene on the day.
Cole planned to testify that the house was heavily guarded and he would further deny killing Nelson and Jordan.
However, the witness insisted: “I saw him coming in the house and I saw him running out [after the shooting].”
The trial was postponed to 23 April.
According to Cole’s criminal record, he was convicted of murdering a Mongrels gangster in 2019 and given a sentence of five years correctional supervision.
He was also charged with the murder of six-year-old Nathalia Pienaar but was later acquitted.