Crime Scene Expert Notes Inconsistencies Luthuli Inquest Evidence

A police crime scene expert, Brenden Burgess, has identified several inconsistencies in the evidence contained in the first inquest into the death of the late ANC President, inkosi Albert Luthuli.

These inconsistencies include the direction the train was travelling in. He testified in the Pietermaritzburg High Court that there were also inconsistencies between the medical reports by the doctors who treated Luthuli after the accident and the post-mortem.

Burgess was part of the team that reconstructed the accident scene in the reopened inquest.

He further questioned the accuracy of the statement of the train driver, Stephanus Albertus Lategan, regarding Luthulis injuries.

"If I look at the injury patterns of the deceased, and I criticise it with the eyewitness account of Mr Lategan, Ive seen no significant injury to the right hand side above the shoulder or on the shoulder," testified Burgess.