Bipolar sufferer ‘a threat to society’
April 19, 2015 by admin
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Harland Moses in court
Picture: Mervyn Naidoo
Durban – An awaiting trial prisoner at Westville Prison with a “healing” touch, claimed in court that when he prayed for the release of other inmates, their freedom became a reality.
But, for nine months, bipolar disorder sufferer Harland Crighton Moses’s own prayers for bail have not been answered. On Friday, the father of two was denied bail when he made his application before magistrate Anand Maharaj at the Durban Regional Court.
According to the psychiatrist who has treated him for many years, when medicated, the “highly intelligent” Moses, 44, is known to be a “wonderful man”, but when not, his intelligence raised Moses’s potential for danger significantly.
Moses pleaded not guilty to the eight, mostly minor, charges he faced. The offences were allegedly committed between July and August last year They included intimidation, assault, housebreaking with intent to commit arson, the theft of suitcases containing ladies’ sleepwear and lingerie and an attempted murder charge.
The attempted murder charge was what eventually put him behind bars.
Moses got into a heated argument with policemen at the Sydenham police station over his use of a parking bay designated for disabled motorists. In his enraged state, Moses is alleged to have deliberately accelerated his BMW, in spite of policemen standing near the vehicle. The car rammed into the station’s commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Enver Salie, who was dragged about 100m.
Moses fled the scene.
It is believed Moses, who is also known to be a “kind-hearted man”, had gone to the station to volunteer his car for police use. Instead, his act of kindness evolved into a hit-and-run incident.
During his bail application Moses, who opted to represent himself, led three character witnesses in support of his claim that he was a “peaceful man” and a practising Christian.
Two of his church members confirmed the assertion.
His wife, Merle, who was Moses’s third witness, said he was pleasant enough provided he took the medication prescribed for his bipolar condition.
But when he stopped taking his medication he had violent tendencies, she said.
During previous altercations she alleged that Moses had throttled and assaulted her.
They were living apart at the time of his arrest in August.
Doctor Suntheren (Sandy) Pillay, a specialist psychiatrist based at St Joseph’s Hospital in Durban, who had been treating Moses for 14 years, previously submitted a profile of his patient to the police.
It said:
* Moses suffered from a bipolar mood disorder.
* Moses was a maniac with grandiose delusions.
* Moses was a danger to the public.
* Moses had made threats to kill, hurt and harm.
During his testimony the doctor said when Moses failed to take his medication regularly, he exhibited homicidal tendencies.
Pillay said Moses had previously damaged hospital property and made threats to hospital staff and security.
“During a consultation in 2002, he threatened me with a knife. He followed my receptionist home on another occasion.”
Pillay said Moses had been getting “progressively worse” over the years.
“His potential for danger is higher because Moses is a very intelligent man and is therefore able to execute his plans,” the doctor told the court.
Moses disputed Pillay’s assessment and, at times, his rebuttal drew choruses of laughter from the gallery.
“You are talking absolute rubbish. My wife hates this guy, I’m not his patient. I’m disgusted with him,” said Moses in response to a statement made by Pillay.
Regarding his having violent tendencies, Moses said: “In my 44 years there’s not a single person in the world who could say Harland Moses hit or stabbed them.”
Moses claimed Pillay had a grudge against him and because he worked for the hospital had an obligation to side with them: “Never mind his Hippocratic oath.”
On the allegation of stealing bags containing woman’s underwear, Moses’s retort was: “I own a car worth R330 000, but I go to a house to steal two bags of ladies’ clothes?”
He firmly believes that the bulk of the charges against him are “trumped up” but he regretted the incident at the Sydenham police station.
“There’s not a day that I don’t think about it. I went there to donate my vehicle but I get accused of trying to kill someone, I don’t agree with that allegation,” he said.
Moses said he had been driving at about 10km/h when he “bumped” the officer and drove off because he felt threatened by all the policemen with guns around him.
Moses pleaded with Maharaj to grant him bail and promised to continue taking his medication.
State prosecutor Kuveshni Pillay opposed bail and said Moses, in choosing to drive off, had shown no remorse for hitting the station commander.
“It showed his propensity for violence,” Pillay said.
In handing down his judgment, Maharaj said the safety of the public was one of the main issues he had considered and he went with the doctor’s opinion that Moses “posed a threat to society”.
mervyn.naidoo@inl.co.za
Sunday Tribune
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Stylebook snapshot: Trusst Lingerie on mission to make better bras for range … – Pittsburgh Post
April 19, 2015 by admin
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April 19, 2015 12:00 AM
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Barely there underthings in lots of pretty colors and prints aren’t Victoria’s only secrets. Many mainstream lingerie carriers lack adequate bra options for women with fuller busts.
“Basically there are lots of things that we want that we can’t find currently, and one of the big things is support,” says Laura West, a co-founder of the Pittsburgh-based start-up Trusst Lingerie.
She and fellow co-founder Sophia Berman, the company’s CEO, were frustrated by this — and they knew they weren’t alone. For about a year they’ve put their Carnegie Mellon University degrees and backgrounds in cut-and-sew products and product development to work creating bras that cater to women who crave extra coverage and lift from their undergarments. Their idea to re-engineer the bra to address these issues earned them an AlphaLab Gears seed funding, which provides $50,000, mentorship and nine months of incubator space at the program’s headquarters in East Liberty, where they and their team are currently based. On Wednesday, they’ll launch a Kickstarter campaign to raise funds to move the company into the next phases of development and product distribution.
“It’s a pretty simple physics problem,” Ms. Berman says. “Breasts have weight, and weights need something to support them, which is not happening right now.”
Trusst Lingerie strives to counteract this by cultivating its own sizing system (theirs runs from about a size 28F to 40H but can be expanded if demand grows, they say) and structures within its bras that take breasts’ volume into consideration. A wider band and the way it connects to the cup are other design features they’ve explored to bolster a bra’s support.
The team uses 3-D printing to produce in-house the support structures in the bras in less than a day — and at a low cost. They’ve also been experimenting with vacuum forming procedures as another means to make the structures quickly and lighter in weight. In addition to trying out the bras themselves, they’ve held several testing events where women can wear them and offer feedback. Another chance for the public to check out the line will be at a trunk show noon-4 p.m. Saturday at Calligramme, a boutique in Lawrenceville that specializes in lingerie and loungewear. A similar event will be held on May 11 at A Mother’s Boutique (11530 Perry Highway, Suite 106, Pine).
While their concept is an easy sell for most women, the men they encounter who tend to dominate the investment and business world sometimes need some educating. To get them to see the problems with a lot of bras on the market, they rely on analogies and a little humor, such as a video Trusst produced that shows men struggling to support melons in a small bra.
In addition to maximizing comfort and wearability, Trusst Lingerie wants to make bras that are attractive. It plans to offer neutral color options, as well as some fun fashion prints and hues, for each bra style. Plus, they’ve designed coordinating panties so women can purchase lingerie sets. On average, bras will start out at about $100 (with higher price points for more stylized designs). People can visit www.trusstlingerie.com to learn how to pre-order a bra through the Kickstarter campaign. Information on sizing and upcoming events also is posted on the company’s website.
Looking ahead, Trusst plans to keep its production in the United States — and possibly even have its own production facility in Pittsburgh someday.
“Pittsburgh has a really vibrant start-up community. Everyone’s willing to share their experiences and meet with us, even if it’s just to grab coffee to say, ‘keep going,’ ” Ms. Berman says. “It would be really hard in a much bigger city to do what we’re doing and get the support that we’ve had.”
Questions regarding Trusst Lingerie can be emailed to info@trusstlingerie.com. For more from Post-Gazette style editor Sara Bauknecht, visit the PG’s fashion blog Stylebook at post-gazette.com/stylebook. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram @SaraB_PG or email sbauknecht@post-gazette.com.