Smit killer guilty

Update

KNYSNA NEWS - This week offered slight compensation for the family of Alan Smit (28), who was extensively injured in a road rage incident on 23 March 2019 and succumbed to his injuries the next day.

Nearly three years after the incident took place, judgement was finally handed down in the Knysna Magistrate's Court on Tuesday 22 February.

The accused, Leon van Rooyen (49), was found guilty on a charge of culpable homicide in the death of Alan Smit. The case was presided over by Magistrate E Jacobs, who acquitted Van Rooyen on the charge of murder, but found him guilty of culpable homicide.

"On the totality of the evidence the only reasonable conclusion that can be made from the prudent facts is that the accused is the person who drove over the head of the deceased, and therefore the accused is the one who caused the injuries to the deceased," Jacobs said during her statement in court.

"These injuries resulted in the death of the deceased the next day." She also refuted the possibility of Van Rooyen's version of events, in which he claimed he simply tried to flee the scene and did not hit Smit at all.

"By reversing his vehicle without proper look-out or even taking proper care and driving over the head of the deceased, he [Van Rooyen] indeed acted negligently," Jacobs said.

"The accused's actions under the circumstances are opposite to that of a reasonable person. The court finds that the accused acted negligently under the circumstances and accordingly the accused is found guilty of culpable homicide."

Late Alan Smit and his widow, Ashleigh Smit.

During the reading of the judgement a masked Van Rooyen remained motionless and seemed to display little emotion.

The incident in which Smit was killed took place on the N2 outside Knysna, with both parties believed to have been travelling from Sedgefield towards Knysna. It was believed that Van Rooyen attempted to overtake Smit and his passenger more than once, ultimately succeeding in doing so over a double barrier line - something which Van Rooyen conceded in court.

Both parties' vehicles eventually came to a halt on the side of the N2, and Jacobs said that both parties were "evidently agitated" at the time.

"The accused could have easily avoided the situation and reported the matter to the police if he indeed feared for his life as he claims. Instead, he expected confrontation and stopped his vehicle," Jacobs said.

Van Rooyen is believed to have stayed inside his vehicle while Smit disembarked his, and at some point the door on the driver's (Van Rooyen's) side was opened.

During the incident Smit was at some point knocked to the floor, believedly by the open driver's door, before Van Rooyen drove over Smit, causing fractures to his skull. He fled the scene and did not report the incident to the police.

The case has been postponed to 4 April when the sentencing is expected to take place.

Alan Smit