FRESH INQUIRY

Roebuck's death inquest to be reopened

by Cricbuzz Staff • Published on

The police had claimed that Roebuck's death in 2011 was a suicide after he fell off from his hotel room in Cape Town. © Getty

Seven years since the passing of former Somerset player turned journalist Peter Roebuck, the inquest into his death is set to be reopened at the behest of his family, the lawyer confirmed on Sunday (October 14). The local police claimed Roebuck's death in 2011 was a suicide after he fell off from his Southern Sun Hotel room in Cape Town from the sixth floor.

The veteran journalist, whilst covering Australia Test tour in South Africa, had in fact been questioned by the police at the hotel over allegations of sexual assault made by a Zimbabwean man. The police's statement then said that while they were searching for evidence in his room, the then 55-year-old jumped out of the window.

"There are many questions regarding the circumstances of his death which have to be probed," George van Niekerk said. "The reopened inquest will hopefully allow all the unresolved issues to be fully ventilated."

Roebuck's family were not invited to a closed hearing in 2013, which upheld the police's account of events. The family, though, didn't accept that version and wanted an open investigation. It is now being reported that "in the interests of justice", the case will be reexamined.

"From the outset, the family and supporters of the late Peter Roebuck have put their faith in the legal system of South Africa," said David Hood, an English barrister representing the Roebuck family, to the Mail in a statement. "It is important to all internationally recognised systems of justice that justice is not only done, but is seen to be done.

"That could never have been with the death of Peter Roebuck, unless and until the circumstances of his death were examined at a legally convened hearing held in public with witnesses called and questioned under oath."

The case will be reopened by South Africa's director of public prosecutions in Western Province. No date, however, has been set for it yet.

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