http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2006/07/09/wsaf09.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/07/09/ixnews.html

When Marcel Nel, a white South African farmer, shot at a dark shape rustling in the long grass at dusk on his neighbour's plot, he thought that he had at last caught the dog that had been terrorising his animals.

Only when he ran over to inspect his kill did he discover the dying body of Sello Pele, 11, a black labourer's son who earned pocket money by opening and closing the gates of Nel's farm.

As he sat weeping inside the court, a crowd outside waved placards reading, "We are Africans, not dogs", while children crawled on all fours in the dirt and pretended to bark.

Sello's family are furious at reports that he asked that the child's blood - which had spattered all over him - be tested for HIV. Sello's father, Johannes Pele, 57, said the request was "an insult to me and my family".