Fugitive caught napping
2007-10-03 21:14
Johannesburg - Police spokesperson Sanku Tsunke says a fugitive who had been on the run for more than three years was arrested and sentenced on Wednesday to 18 years in jail for hijacking.
Tsunke said that "most wanted fugitive" Thabiso Reginald Makwela, 26, escaped from custody in 2004.
"He escaped from the Randburg Magistrate's Court on May 11 2004 where he disarmed [police] and shot his way out from the court's cells."
He shot and wounded four policemen and three awaiting trial prisoners during his escape.
Makwela had initially been arrested for hijacking.
"There were two warrants of arrest out for him and there was also a R20 000 bounty offered for his arrest and conviction," said Tsunke.
He was hiding in another shack
Mondeor police, following up on information received, went to a shack in Etwata, east of Johannesburg on Tuesday.
Makwetla was found asleep in the shack and when he tried to escape police gave chase. They found him hiding in another shack about 500m away.
He was detained at the Mondeor police station and appeared in the Randburg Magistrate's Court on Wednesday.
Tsunke said: "On the day Makwela escaped from Randburg court, he had just been sentenced to 18 years imprisonment for hijacking. This morning (on Wednesday) when he appeared, he was sentenced to start serving that 18-year imprisonment with immediate effect."
Additional cases for escaping and attempted murder were also placed on the court roll but they were postponed until October 10.
Makwela was taken to Johannesburg Prison where he will start serving his sentence.
- SAPA