Vermeulen cleared of arson

Vermeulen cleared of arson

FREED: Vermeulen mentally unstable

• Zimbabwe all out for 244 runs

• Pakistan clinch series with 37-run romp over Zimbabwe

• Pakistan limp home against Zimbabwe

• Pakistan limp home against Zimbabwe

• Utseya injury concern for Zim on Pakistan tour

• Vermeulen sensation: 'I did it'

• Zimbabwe get security 'all clear' to tour Pakistan

• Zimbabwe Cricket rejects ECB pay-off over planned tour

• Bhutto assasination casts doubt over Zimbabwe tour

• Zimbabwe in 51-run victory over SA Composite XI

• Zimbabwe outplayed by SA Composite XI

• Vermeulen trial set for January 10

• Final Zimbabwe, West Indies ODI rained out

• Zimbabwe beat West Indies by 31 runs

• Zim draw India in 2009 World Cup

• Zimbabwe shock Aussies

• Taibu completes Zimbabwe return

• ICC: No evidence of impropriety for self-gain

• ICC relents on Zimbabwe's US$11m payout

• Zimbabwe Cricket 'falsified accounts'

• New ICC chief voices support for Zim

FORMER Zimbabwe player Mark Vermeulen has been cleared of arson attacks on the cricket board's headquarters after a court found he was suffering psychiatric problems, his lawyer said.

Eric Matinenga said Mishrod Guvamombe, the presiding magistrate at Wednesday's hearing in Harare, had delivered a "special verdict'' which meant Vermuelen had not been in control of his actions when he carried out the attacks.

"A special verdict is retained when a person commits an offence while they are not well up there. If the person is considered to be dangerous to society, he is committed to an institution,'' the lawyer said.

"If he does not pose a danger to society, as was found in this case, the person is freed.''

At the start of his trial, Vermeulen pleaded not guilty over the torching of the Zimbabwe Cricket offices at the Harare Sports Club in October 2006 and an arson attack at the national training academy the next day.

Vladimir Rajkovic, a private psychiatrist in Harare who examined Vermeulen, told the court his client suffered from partial complex epilepsy and impulsive behaviour disorder after he was hit in the head by a cricket ball during a match in Australia.

The doctor said the condition could only be controlled by medication and could not be cured.

The 29-year-old batsman played the last of his eight Test matches in 2004. - Agence France-Presse
JOIN THE DEBATE ON THIS ARTICLE ON THE NEWZIMBABWE.COM FORUMS
ozzie@newzimbabwe.com