The day after the trial of the young Johannesburg clerk, Trevor Bloem, opened on 17 February the case was postponed at the prosecution's request. On resumption ten days later the judge found that the State had not proved its case under the Terrorism Act to the effect that Bloem had conspired with others to contact illegal organisations abroad and re-enter South Africa in order to commit sabotage, organise strikes or undertake other subversive action. The charges under the Suppression of Communism Act were dropped. Two witnesses who refused to give evidence against Bloem were jailed for a year.
Bloem had pleaded guilty to two minor charges, that of possessing a copy of the unlawful magazine Sechaba, and that of attempting to escape from police custody. His counsel submitted that four days after his arrest, after he had been interrogated, Bloem spontaneously made a dash out of an open door but did not resist when re-arrested. On this charge he was given a suspended sentence of 6 months' imprisonment. For the possession of Sechaba he was fined R250, and for the possession of a pack of indecent playing cards, to which he had pleaded not guilty, he was also fined R250.
