Gun tendered as exhibit goes off in court killing a South African prosecutor

A South African prosecutor was reportedly killed in court this week by a loaded gun that discharged when it somehow fell.

Adelaide Ferreira-Watt, 51, a well respected lawyer was in Ixopo regional court when the weapon which fell and accidentally fired was introduced as an exhibit in a robbery case, according to reports.

The gun was said to have fallen and a shot went off, hitting the advocate in what has been described as an accident. She was rushed to the hospital but she passed on.

“It is with great sadness that I inform you of the passing on November 18 of senior state advocate Addelaid Ann Ferreira Watt of the office of the director of public prosecutions, Pietermaritzburg.

“Her untimely passing is mourned by all. Our thoughts and prayers are with her family during this difficult time. The family has requested that their privacy be respected,” KwaZulu-Natal director of public prosecutions Elaine Zungu said in the bereavement notice.

A case of culpable homicide was being investigated by Umzimkhulu police.

“Unfortunately we cannot divulge further information as the investigations are at a sensitive stage,” police spokesperson Brigadier Jay Naicker said.

Meanwhile, a legal friend of the barrister said: “There is absolutely no need for a weapon being submitted in evidence in a court of law to still be capable of being fired and the weapon and the ammunition that it had contained at the time of the alleged crime should have been submitted in separate evidence bags so someone is in big trouble.

“For her to be taken away so cruelly and in such a freakish way is just agonizing,´she said referring to  her friend Addelaid as an excellent lawyer and a devoted mother and a lover of art and animals.”

The late lawyer who has been described as a woman with a compassionate heart has a daughter Linsay who, according to report, is engaged to be married.