Britney Arends’ bail bid crushed as court rejects ‘new facts’ in gang murder case

A 22-year-old Kimberley woman who has been in custody since her arrest in May 2023 for racketeering, gangsterism and murder has failed in her latest bid for bail.

Britney Arends was apprehended with 20 other alleged accomplices two years ago. She is accused number three in a gang of 21 people standing trial on 117 charges. They face charges including murder, attempted murder, gang activity, the illegal possession of firearms and ammunition, discharging a firearm in a built-up area, public violence, money laundering, racketeering, defeating the ends of justice, assault, kidnapping, fraud and drug-dealing.

Arends was denied bail in the Kimberley regional court last year but lodged an appeal against the decision with the Northern Cape high court, arguing that the lower court erred and that she had shown grounds to be released pending trial.

But acting judge Thandisa Tyuthuza was not persuaded — dismissing both her appeal and a fresh bail application based on what Arends claimed were “new facts”.

Arends has been behind bars since May 5 2023, when she was arrested as part of a sweeping operation targeting what police describe as a violent criminal enterprise linked to the Hollanders gang.

The charges she faces fall squarely under Schedule 6 — the category reserved for the most serious crimes — meaning she was required to prove “exceptional circumstances” that made her release compatible with the interests of justice.

She failed to do so in the first instance, and Tyuthuza found that she failed again.

During her original bail application, Arends presented herself as a young, unemployed woman with no criminal record, no dependents and no ties to complainants or witnesses. She claimed she lived in Roodepan with two women and seven children, could afford R500 bail and would report to police and comply with all conditions.

The State countered with an affidavit from lead investigator Capt Riaan Baartman, who told the court that Arends had supplied multiple different addresses, several linked to alleged gang activity.

One was the home of the mother of accused number one, alleged gang boss George “Barney” Peters. Others were residences associated with gang members, and the address she provided as her primary residence was shared with a co-accused.

Baartman argued that this illustrated her deep integration within the criminal grouping and undermined any claim of stable family ties.

The court agreed.

Now, more than a year later, Arends returned to court arguing that circumstances had changed. This time, she said she could afford R15,000 bail, lived with and depended on her father, and needed to assist her diabetic mother who was caring for two young children.

She insisted she was not a danger to the public, would stand trial and had confessed to a murder only because she had been told to take the blame for it.

But Tyuthuza found that the so-called new facts were nothing of the sort — many were details known to Arends at the time of her earlier application but deliberately withheld.

I am not satisfied that the release of the appellant on bail is in the interests of justice.

—  Thandisa Tyuthuza, acting judge

The judge noted that Arends’ conflicting claims about her residence demonstrated dishonesty, and that living with co-accused prior to arrest, combined with addresses tied to gang activity, strengthened the inference of close association with the alleged criminal operation.

The court further noted that Arends had never attempted to challenge the strength of the state’s case when she first applied for bail.

In the renewed application, Arends’ assertion that she falsely confessed was treated with scepticism. Tyuthuza ruled that if her claim were true, it would itself indicate involvement in defeating the ends of justice. Arends has also not provided an account of how the alleged false confession came about.

The judgment also highlighted that a section 204 witness had linked Arends to the crimes. Arends, in turn, had offered no compelling evidence suggesting the likelihood of her being acquitted.

“I am not satisfied that the release of the appellant on bail is in the interests of justice,” Tyuthuza said, ordering that both the appeal and the new application be dismissed.

Her failed bid for release comes as the gang trial continues to generate courtroom drama — much of it centred on alleged ringleader Peters. Last week he refused to return to the dock, declared that he was firing his lawyer, and told the court he would rather die than undergo psychiatric observation.

While the rest of the accused — including Arends — are due back in court when the trial resumes in March, Peters will appear separately on December 5 to determine who, if anyone, will represent him.