GARDEN ROUTE NEWS - With experience of hundreds of trials and thousands of bail applications, former Mossel Bay District Court prosecutor Craig Merrington started his new job as the George Regional Court prosecutor last week.
Merrington spoke to Mossel Bay Advertiser about his work as a prosecutor, the highlights and how his career has progressed over the past 15 years.
In 2001 he graduated with a B.Proc degree from the then Vista University, which later merged with other institutions to form Nelson Mandela University. Merrington moved to Cape Town after graduating.
“I wasn't working in law. I watched a lot of law programmes during that time and decided I was missing my calling and in 2008, I moved to Mossel Bay and started at the court and quickly realised the profession was nothing like the TV shows,” he said with a laugh.
“It has been a long and rewarding journey. There have been several challenges, but it has been satisfying,” said Merrington of his work as a prosecutor.
When asked about his most memorable cases, Merrington said although there had been many over his long career, a few really stood out.
These include securing a conviction of a mother who administered a narcotic to her two-year-old daughter in an attempt to pacify her child as well as the successful bid in having bail denied to an accused eventually convicted of attempted murder of his own baby.
Craig Merrington.
Photo: Eben Merrington
Merrington said he was also able to secure the conviction of a prominent businessman for assaulting his spouse “despite his wealth and the best legal team money could buy”.
He notes: “I was the pioneer for the combating of domestic abuse - the first prosecutor in Mossel Bay courts to obtain a 10-year sentence for a woman convicted of dealing in narcotics.”
He said he was the first and only prosecutor in Mossel Bay to succeed in getting a doublecab bakkie, valued at R200 000 in about 2013, forfeited to the state.
“I think I have served the community of Mossel Bay well,” said Merrington. “One cannot put a price tag on serving justice.
“There is nothing more satisfying and rewarding than seeing a person who deserves to go to jail, get put behind bars.”
He added that he hoped to be remembered as an ambassador for law and an advocate for justice.
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