National Border Patrol Unit Coordinator Daniel Seeram will remain in prison after High Court Judge Joy Persaud-Singh on Monday refused his bid to overturn a magistrate’s decision to remand him pending sentencing for assaulting his ex-wife.
Seeram had sought judicial review of Magistrate Abigail Gibbs’ remand decision and requested bail. The High Court refused the application, leaving the former Region Four Chairman in custody ahead of his November 2 sentencing.
The application followed his conviction on Friday, October 2, at the Sparendaam Magistrate’s Court for assault causing actual bodily harm to Farzana Hamid.
The case concerned an incident on September 11, 2023, at the Cummings Lodge apartment the couple shared. They have since divorced.
During the trial, Hamid testified that she awoke in the early hours to Seeram striking her in the head. She said that when she attempted to record him, he seized her phone, threw it against a wall and then into a toilet.
She described being repeatedly assaulted and said she scratched Seeram while fighting back. Both subsequently reported the incident to the Turkeyen Police Station.
Seeram denied assaulting Hamid, maintaining that he had only pushed her while attempting to leave the apartment. He accused her of being the aggressor.
However, Magistrate Gibbs found that his account did not adequately explain Hamid’s injuries and that the force used went beyond a single push.
The magistrate also identified inconsistencies in the defence’s explanations, including suggestions that Hamid had fallen or injured herself, accounts that were absent from Seeram’s initial police statement.
In delivering the verdict, Gibbs accepted Hamid’s evidence as credible and found that her injuries were consistent with the assault she described. The court was satisfied beyond reasonable doubt that Seeram had unlawfully assaulted her and had not acted in self-defence.
After the conviction, defence attorney Nigel Hughes asked the magistrate to reconsider remanding Seeram, citing his national responsibilities and his attendance throughout the court proceedings.
Gibbs declined that request and ordered him into custody.
Monday’s High Court decision leaves that remand order in place. Seeram is scheduled to be sentenced on November 2, 2026, at 10:30 a.m.
