*Baby Railen’s mother, accused no1, will hear tomorrow if she will get bail or n…

*Baby Railen’s mother, accused no1, will hear tomorrow if she will get bail or not, pending her sentencing trial later this month. She had earlier this month been found guilty of neglect and abuse.

The couple was accused of beating the three-year-old and burning him with boiling water, ultimately leading to the boy's death. They are not being named to protect the identity of the woman’s other children.

The court found that the mother had caused the toddler's death by keeping quiet, despite knowing her boyfriend was abusing the child: – "Accused 1 [the mother] was constantly living in fear of Accused 2 [the boyfriend]. The court found that here was a strong possibility that she knew what Accused 2 did to the child and her being afraid of losing her other children, became party to the abuse.
"Baby R was abused during his lifetime. R was constantly being assaulted and Accused 1 was aware of the abuse. She turned a blind eye. She should have foreseen what was happening," Matshitse said.

Accused 1 was represented today by Mario Coetzee and advocate Ruan Hollamby, who argued today that keeping accuse no 1 in jail would predispose both her and her surviving three children, in that she will lose her employment if she does not get bail, and accordingly, would result in her being unable to *provide for her family.

Ruan Hollamby insisted that she was not a flight risk, as she had attended all her court appearances throughout the trial.

State prosecutor Steve Rubin passionately opposed the application, providing a statement from investigating officer Stephen Joubert.

The warrant officer said that prior to her conviction and incarceration, accused no 1 failed to inform him she has changed both her address and place of employment, directly in contravention to the bail conditions.

He said Cloete had also broken the bail conditions by travelling to Natal and Port Elizabeth without permission, despite being barred from leaving Gauteng without alerting Joubert.

Judge Collin Matshitse postponed the matter until Friday afternoon to consider the arguments before delivering his ruling.
*At present not one of the children is under accused no 1’s care.
The accuse have two biological children together aged two and three, who are now subject to a Children’s Court application by the maternal and paternal grandmothers of the minors.
Maryke’s other son from another relationship is with his biological family.
A high-ranking National Prosecuting Authority official said although there was no minimum prescribed sentence for child neglect, the maximum the mother can get would be 20 years, which the State would be fighting for.

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