The man accused of murdering the 31-year-old mother of two, Lauren Dryden made his first appearance in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court on Monday, November 24.
Fernando Isaacs, who allegedly shot and killed Dryden outside her place of work while she was waiting for her taxi cab home, has had several brushes with the law over the last decade, according to Mayco member for safety and security JP Smith in a News24 report.
Smith addressed the crowd and said that Isaacs has been to jail numerous times over the past 10 years, and lamented the Western Cape’s poor gang conviction rate, which is allegedly only 3%.
Isaacs’ case was remanded until November 30 for a bail application and to give him the opportunity to find legal representation.
The accused allegedly robbed and murdered Dryden outside her place of work in Kinghall Avenue, Epping early on Friday morning [November 20] after she had worked the night shift. She was awaiting a taxi cab to her Bonteheuwel home when she was attacked.
Bonteheuwel ward councillor, Angus McKenzie lambasted the justice system and police.
“What happened on Friday was unnecessary,” said McKenzie. “If this court building behind me and the police station down the road had done their work, we would not have this mess we are facing now.”
“She was a woman who worked [the] whole night for her family, who had wanted to go home to her children,” he added.
McKenzie said that Isaacs, who had been arrested on numerous occasions, fell “through the cracks of a broken criminal justice system”.
The National Prosecuting Authority confirmed to News24 that the accused has a criminal history and had appeared in the Bishop Lavis Magistrate’s Court before.
Picture: Supplied