Judge Nathan Erasmus pointed out to Lombaard that she had said four times she was with her children that morning. However, she backtracked, saying she had made a mistake because the children did not accompany her.
“Only now you are telling me you made a mistake four times, any explanation to this?” asked Erasmus.
Lombaard said: “I feel sorry. I feel hurt, my lord that I cannot explain it.”
The court was adjourned when Lombaard became emotional, struggled to breathe and was helped outside to get medical attention.
It was an abrupt end to intensive scrutiny of her evidence by the defence.
Earlier in the day, Erasmus told her: “I do not want to upset you or get your guard up unnecessarily. I take it is your first time testifying in court. I’ll accept that but what will happen at the end of the court \[case\], the defence will argue you didn’t answer the questions and you were going on long tangents — it's one of the factors that will determine your credibility.”
The multipurpose centre serving as the court venue had many empty chairs in the large public gallery on Wednesday. Joshlin’s biological father Jose Emke and Smith’s mother Rita Yon were absent.
The case was postponed until Thursday.
**TimesLIVE**