Police officers jailed for killing taxi driver they dragged behind truck

Eight former policeman were jailed for 15 years each for killing a taxi driver by dragging him handcuffed to a police truck before beating him in his cell. The officers were said by the judge they had shown no remorse over their treatment of Mido Macia, which was caught on video in South Africa and broadcast around the world. They were told by judge Bert Bam: "The continuous conduct of the accused concerning the injuries on the deceased was barbaric and totally inexplicable.“

What made their conduct more reprehensible was their cowardly attack in the cell on a defenceless and already seriously injured man

Judge Bert Bam

The video of the incident, which rekindled images of apartheid era police brutality, was filmed by an onlooker and showed Mozambican Mr Macia scuffling with police after he illegally parked his vehicle. The victim, 27, was then tied to the back of a police van and dragged in full view of scores of witnesses in the east Johannesburg area of Daveyton. He died from head injuries and internal bleeding. Following, the sentencing in Pretoria, Benny Ndaba, a lawyer for the officers, who are aged from 25 to 56, said they would appeal their murder conviction. Mr Macia’s family said it believed "justice had been served” but the actions of eight police officers should taint all South Africa’s police.

They live in squalor and face difficulties every day because the person they depended on is gone, but above the monetary matters, they lost a son and a father whom they will never see again.

Victim’s family’s lawyer Jose Nascimento