A middle-aged man choked back tears while testifying against his 31-year-old drug addicted son whom he accused of stealing his spade; in the Christianburg Magis-trate’s Court on Wednesday.
The matter was heard before Magistrate Ann McLennan.
Winston Nedd, of 144 Dageraad Avenue, MacKenzie, Linden told the court that on Tuesday May 23, he had had someone cleaning his yard and the person left the spade in the yard behind the water tank but when he went in search of it, he did not find it. The man said he suspected that his son had taken the spade and when he asked him about it, he told him that he should not have left the spade there.
When the court asked the accused, 31-year-old Wickam Nedd, of the said address, to give his version of the matter, he said he is a former Mackenzie High School student and that he had been granted a scholarship to play in the US Open Table Tennis Tournament. The magistrate stopped him and told him to talk about the spade.
The man then said that he lost his job at the DNI but he had borrowed the spade to do some cleaning at the Mackenzie Market after which he hid it but on his return to the location he did not find it.
Nedd’s father said that his son returned from the US five years ago with a drug habit and that he has been stealing things from the home to satisfy the habit. He said that he had spent close to $1M in an attempt to cure him and he had twice taken his son for rehabilitation treatment but he walked away from it.
Nedd sobbed as he told the court that his son was a sickly child who had been expected to become epileptic but luckily that did not happen. He said that he told his son of the prognosis and warned him that using drugs would endanger his health. The man said he is fed up of his son’s unrepentant behaviour and no longer wanted him in their home since he had also threatened to kill him. Despite this, he said that he allowed his son to live in a small room downstairs in his home.
Magistrate McLennan said that she did not believe that Nedd was really concerned about losing the spade, rather that he was fed up of his son’s behaviour. She also said she believed that he was attempting to shirk his responsibilities as a father and place the problem into the hands of the court. The magistrate then advised the elder man that even if his son was sent to prison he would not overcome the addiction, instead she said he should arrange for rehabilitative care and counselling for his son.
Nedd agreed with the magistrate and asked the court to grant him a restraining order against his son as he had threatened to kill him. The magistrate then informed Nedd that he had not made any previous report about his son’s threat.
During the hearing the younger Nedd said that he suffered from manic depression and he would like to be taken to the New Amsterdam Mental Institution where he could be isolated and receive treatment since he is not pleased with the way in which his treatment is administered to him at home. He also said he was willing to repay his father for the spade.
The magistrate then ordered him to pay his father for the spade by June 6 or he would be jailed for four weeks.
