News Item

Date 1st May 2002

By Estelle Ellis

A Stellenbosch man, who was paralysed when a psychotic woman shot him and his former girlfriend, told the Cape High Court how his nightmare started when she fought with them over a parking bay.

Ian Gordon Bryn Hamilton is claiming almost R19-million from the ministry of safety and security for failing in its alleged duty to exercise proper care in the issuing of a licence for the firearm with which he was shot.

The court must first decide whether there is merit in his claim.

'She was totally out of control'

Hamilton was paralysed when he was shot by Erna Lochiel McArdell, 46 at the time. According to papers before court, McArdell was a "paranoid psychotic with a personality disorder who abused... prescription medication and alcohol".

Hamilton's particulars of claim said McArdell had received psychological counselling and therapy from professionals and had on various occasions been certified for admission to, and had been admitted by, Stikland Psychiatric Hospital.

On September 29 1993, McArdell applied at the Stellenbosch Police Station for a licence to possess a firearm. This was issued to her.

On the night of August 6 1994, at East Lynne Flats in Stellenbosch, McArdell fired about 15 shots from her .38 Special revolver, injuring Hamilton, his friend Taryn Webber and two other people. "It was about 7pm. We had returned from town in Webber's vehicle. We parked in parking bay No 1 (at the flat block). Webber paid for this parking bay. A woman approached us. She was very abusive and aggressive. She told us she despised students and how they always took her parking bay.

"It was my impression that she was either drunk or on drugs or both. She was totally out of control.

'Then she tried to run us over with her car' "I explained to her that it was Webber's bay. She carried on. We realised that we could not resolve the problem and started walking to Webber's flat.

"Then she tried to run us over with her car. Then she got out and ran towards the front door of the flat. Webber was standing there. She took Webber by the shoulder and turned her around. She said something and then shot her in the stomach.

"She fired two shots at me. One shot hit me in the back. I fell to the ground. She got into her vehicle and sped off. The bullet lodged in my neck. It was removed after three weeks." Hamilton was in hospital for 2½ months.

McArdell was declared a state patient after being found unfit to stand trial. She was hospitalised at the Lentegeur Psychiatric Hospital.

Hamilton's legal team will now argue that McArdell should never have been issued with a firearm licence because she was not fit to possess a firearm, and had threatened to commit acts of violence prior to the issuing of the licence.

They will argue that the police were negligent, particularly in light of McArdell's history of hospital treatment for psychotic illness.

Ian Hamilton's legal costs are underwritten by Legal Protection Services.