Cape Town - The 39-year-old suspect accused of killing three people at New Somerset Hospital over the weekend has been charged with murder and robbery.
Jean-Paul Malgas has abandoned his bail application after making his first appearance in the Cape Town Magistrate’s Court earlier on Tuesday and will return to court on June 30 as he is remanded while the State investigates further.
The ex-policeman was a patient at the hospital and managed to disarm a police officer on duty, Donay Phillips, who was killed along with two others.
He appeared in handcuffs and leg irons which State advocate Adnaan Gelderbloem said was for safety purposes. The magistrate enquired about his visible injuries, and it was confirmed he had received medical attention - his right hand was swollen.
Malgas has been charged with three counts of murder for shooting at Phillips and two other men who are unknown to the State at this stage.
He has also been charged with robbery for taking the firearm from Phillips, possession of an unlicensed firearm and unlawful possession of ammunition.
Advocate Gelderbloem told the court in the event of a bail application, they would be opposing bail.
However, Malgas’s lawyer Shagan Balram said Malgas would not be applying for bail.
“Client is currently not in a good frame of mind, and as you would have heard in court, we have alluded that he is suicidal, and therefore he exercised his right to abandon his bail application.”
Balram confirmed Malgas was in the police service for five years, from 2002 to 2007 and was a constable stationed in Vredenburg on the West Coast.
He said Malgas had left the service and currently suffered from depression as a result of leaving his employment.