A Table View policewoman, who allegedly used WhatsApp messages to thwart colleagues searching her friend’s car, appeared in court in on Tuesday.
Constable Heidi Chantal Stander, 36, made her third appearance in the Specialised Commercial Crime Court in Bellville before magistrate Sabrina Sonnenberg.
She faces charges of possession of drugs, possession of ammunition, the theft of a date stamp belonging to the Table View police station, and attempting to defeat the administration of justice.
The charges stem from two incidents, one involving an unexpected search of her Bloubergstrand flat and the other relating to the WhatsApp messages.
According to the charge sheet, two police officers raided her flat in October last year and found 11 empty containers with traces of tik in them.
They also found a bag of tik, a used “tik lollie” and 22 live 9mm rounds of ammunition. The officials also searched her car, and found the police date stamp hidden in it.
Constable Stander was on leave during the raid.
In the second incident, it is alleged she sent WhatsApp messages to an off-duty armed response officer, around 7pm in October last year, asking who was on duty that evening.
It is alleged she asked him for the cellphone number of an officer on patrol, who had stopped a friend’s car and was busy searching it.
After a number of WhatsApp exchanges between them, the armed response officer informed his supervisor of the messages. The messages form the basis of the charge of attempting to defeat the administration of justice.
Legal aid defence attorney Harley Cloete told the court he was negotiating a plea and sentence agreement with prosecutor Thersia du Toit-Smit. At his request, the case was postponed to Friday July 22, to enable him to consult a correctional supervision officer.
