More than four and a half years have passed since the then Police Inspector John Lawrence Platt and a co-accused, James Kasume, were convicted on a charge of motor vehicle theft and each sentenced to an effective four years' imprisonment on November 8 2000.

In the intervening years, both men have remained free on bail pending the hearing and finalisation of an appeal they had lodged against their conviction.

But on Wednesday, this time of reprieve came to an end for Platt and Kasume.

That was when Judge Annel Silungwe gave a ruling in which he refused to excuse Platt's failure to have followed the High Court's rules during the initial stages of his appeal, and ordered that Platt's bail pending appeal be cancelled.

The Judge also ordered that Kasume's bail pending appeal was likewise being cancelled.

The two men will now have to start serving their terms of imprisonment.

What Judge Silungwe described as a "grossly inordinate and indefensible delay" by both Platt and his former legal representative in pursuing the appeal swayed the Judge to dismiss Platt's efforts to revive his appeal after it had been struck off the High Court's roll in June 2002.In any event, Judge Silungwe added, it would appear on the face of the evidence that was produced during Platt's trial in the Windhoek Regional Court that the prospects for a successful appeal were slim.

Judge Nic Hannah concurred with Judge Silungwe's decision.

Platt and Kasume were accused of having stolen a Mazda 323 vehicle, valued at some N$17 000, in Windhoek between August 27 and September 3 1998.

The vehicle was recovered at a farm in the Rehoboth area on the latter date.

Both Platt and Kasume lodged an appeal two days after their conviction and sentencing.

However, when the appeal had to be heard in the High Court on June 3 2002, their lawyers were not present.

The appeal was struck from the roll.

According to Platt, he learned only in August the next year that his appeal had been unsuccessful.

Judge Silungwe commented in his judgement that it was apparent that in the period between June 2002 and August 2003 neither Platt nor his lawyer had played any meaningful role in the prosecution of the appeal.

It is because of that "grossly inordinate and indefensible delay", evidenced by an "ordinate period of inactivity" on Platt's part, that the Judges decided not to condone his non-compliance with the High Court's rules.