Port Elizabeth attorney Danie Gouws, who represents Coutts, told The Herald that Coutts has not turned state witness but has sought legal representation in the lead-up to the state presenting its evidence in Panayiotou’s bail application tomorrow.
Gouws said reports that Coutts had turned state witness were not true.
Earlier this week it emerged Coutts, 26, a manager Panayiotou’s OK Grocer in Algoa Park, has been booked off work for stress.
Gouws said allegations were flying around following the murder of Panayiotou’s wife, Jayde.
Jayde, 29, was abducted on April 21 outside the Kabega townhouse at complex where they lived while waiting for a friend to collect her for work. Her body was found the next day on a farm in Rocklands. She had been shot three times.
Luthando Siyoli, 31, and Sizwezakhe Vumazonke, 30, are Panayiotou’s co-accused. Panayiotou, 28, faces charges of murder, conspiracy to commit murder, kidnapping and robbery with aggravating circumstances.
He has applied for bail and will be back in court tomorrow.
