A Durban man who allegedly killed a 46-year-old mom and attempted to kill her son and husband because they supported Palestine told the Durban Magistrate’s Court on Friday morning that “this thing speaks through me”. 

The accused, Grayson Beare, made a brief appearance in court for stabbing Halima Hoosen-Preston to death. He also faces two counts of attempted murder against Hoosen-Preston’s husband, Shaun, and their 18-year-old son, Adam. 

Beare was admitted to the Pietermaritzburg psychiatric facility, Fort Napier, for a mental evaluation, and the court was expected to hear whether he was fit to stand trial.

However, the State prosecutor, Calvin Govender, told the court that the report was still pending. 

“He is still hospitalised,” Govender said. 

He requested that the matter be remanded to July 15, 2025, for the medical report.

Magistrate Ashwin Singh postponed the matter to July 15.

As Beare, who looked disoriented, was about to go to the cells, he said: “This thing speaks through me.”

He is alleged to have stormed into the Preston home on June 2, 2024, and attacked Halima, stabbing her 15 times in front of her family in the Glenmore area.

Hoosen-Preston’s 13-year-old daughter was not physically harmed during the attack.

The Hoosen-Preston and Beare families lived in the same area and were known to each other. 

Beare has been in custody since his arrest in 2024. He has not applied for bail pending his mental evaluation to ascertain whether he is fit for court proceedings.

Additionally, his mental state became a point of contention following a State district surgeon’s finding that he was fit to stand trial.

At the time, his defence challenged this report in an application made in this court, on the basis that the accused had been a psychiatric patient for more than five years, adding that he was not fit to stand trial.

In an application that was heard in August last year, Beare’s attorney, Nyameko Jodwana, asked for psychiatrists and a clinical psychologist to assess him, a request that Magistrate Singh granted.

nomonde.zondi@inl.co.za

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