Ex-cop jailed for 15 years for stealing firearms from police stations

A former police officer was sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by the Durban Regional Court on Wednesday for stealing confiscated firearms.

Daniel Casparus Reynecke, 65, was a police officer from 1976 to 2015 and was part of the Durban Organised Crime Unit (OCU).

He was convicted on four counts of theft of firearms, two counts of possession of prohibited firearms, possession of ammunition, and loss of a firearm.

According to Natasha Ramkisson-Kara, the National Prosecuting Authority’s (NPA) spokesperson in KwaZulu-Natal, Reynecke was one of the officers responsible for collecting firearms involved in crimes and taking them for ballistic testing.

He was stationed at various police stations around KZN, where he allegedly took the firearms but did not return them.

Reynecke was investigated and found to be in possession of the stolen firearms.

“Two of the firearms, which he signed for in 1997 and 2001, were found in a river in Amanzimtoti, about 500 metres away from where he resided at the time. Other firearms were found in his office, even though there was a standing order which did not permit the members of the OCU to keep exhibits on the premises,” said Ramkisson-Kara.

The two firearms found in his office were not registered in any docket and had no serial numbers, meaning he was in possession of prohibited firearms.

He was nabbed after they conducted an audit at 71 police stations in KZN.

Evidence presented in court were testimonies of police officials who explained the procedure of dealing with firearms confiscated from crime scenes and his direct link to the recovered firearms.

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