Pair accused of Norwood hit-run of Manto Cafe patron Jeph Ko revealed after court lifts suppression order
THE names of two men accused of the hit-and-run robbery of a patron outside a popular eastern suburbs cafe have been revealed.
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THE identities of two men accused of a hit-and-run robbery of a patron outside a popular eastern suburbs cafe have been revealed in court.
Kieran Callaghan-Wight, 25, and James Michael Watts, 29, are in custody, charged over the incident at Manto Café, on George Street, near The Parade, Norwood, in July.
Police allege the men were inside a stolen white Mitsubishi, which struck a cafe patron, Jeph Ko, 33, before dragging him up to 40m along the road in front of shocked customers.
Prosecutors further allege the men tried to snatch his laptop, which was valued at up to $2500, during the incident at 5.45pm on Sunday, July 3.
A third man, Patrick Leslie Drummond, 24, remains on the run, charged with torching the van that was found with stolen plates.
Mr Ko, a Taiwanese-born photographer and city cafe worker also known as Er-Hsin Ko, was rushed to the Royal Adelaide Hospital, where he remained in its intensive care unit with serious injuries for some weeks.
He has since been discharged and has revealed his ongoing battles with his rehabilitation while friends have rallied behind him.
On Friday, the accused pair appeared in the Adelaide Magistrates Court via video link, as prosecutors revealed that police identification processes had been completed.
The pair’s identities had been subject to a court suppression, as police interviewed witnesses.
Watts, of Aldinga Beach, and Callaghan-Wright, of Glenunga, are each charged with one aggravated count of committing theft using force and causing harm to another.
They also have yet to plead to fabricating or altering to conceal evidence, failing to answer questions of the identity of a driver or owner of a vehicle and making off without payment at Glenunga.
The court has not been told who was behind the wheel of the van used in the crime, which was found dumped and torched early the next morning River Rd, Port Noarlunga — 45km from the scene.
But Callaghan-Wright is further charged with failing to comply with a direction, failing to stop after an accident, and failing to assist a person after an accident.
On Friday, Magistrate Bob Harrap revoked the suppression orders on both men’s identities after being satisfied that publication of their names would not affect the ongoing police investigation.
He remanded them in custody until December, when they are due to formally enter their pleas.
An arrest warrant was issued for Drummond, of Aldinga Beach, on September 27, after he failed to appear at the Christies Beach Magistrates Court.
He has yet to plead to one count of impeding an investigation and a further aggravated charge of receiving property without consent.
