JOHANNESBURG, February 10 (ANA)- “Lion Man” Mark Scott-Crossley, accused of attempted murder, was denied bail in the Lenyenye Magistrate’s Court in Limpopo on Friday.
The Limpopo game farmer was on the run before he was arrested for allegedly assaulting a wildlife centre worker. The Lion Man, so named after he threw a worker into a lions’ den years ago, allegedly drove his car over the worker twice.
Last month the court heard Scott-Crossley’s bail application over two days.
Friday’s court ruling saw demonstrators returning to the court building, demanding that Scott-Crossley not be granted bail. Police kept an eye on the demonstrators throughout the bail judgement.
Scott-Crossley was arrested in Pretoria last year after being on the run from police for weeks.
He allegedly attacked a wildlife centre worker and smashed his cellphone before running him over twice with a vehicle. The employee, Silence Mabunda, was hospitalised after the incident.
Scott-Crossley was dubbed the “Lion Man” after he made headlines when he threw a farm worker into a lion cage. In 2004 Scott-Crossley was convicted of masterminding the premeditated murder of the farm worker. He was released on parole in 2008.
While incarcerated, Scott-Crossley was also charged with assaulting a fellow inmate, Jacobus Cordier, at the Barberton maximum security prison in December 2006.
The Barberton Magistrate’s Court found him guilty of assault and sentenced him to a fine of R4,000 or two years’ imprisonment. He paid the fine.
He is expected back in the Lenyenye Magistrate’s Court on March 24.
– African News Agency (ANA)
