Escapee Chauke gets 5 years'

2002-10-08 11:14

Sonja Carstens

Johannesburg - Heist kingpin Collen Chauke and two, men who escaped with him from Pretoria Central Prison in December 1997 will each spend five more years in prison as punishment for their escape.

Magistrate Peet Johnson said: "The country is becoming increasingly violent. Prison terms do not discourage criminals. By escaping with the use of violence, you put other people's lives in danger."

Appearing with Chauke in the Pretoria regional court on Monday were Sipho "Killer" Nkuna and Lassie Sibiya.

All three earlier admitted they had escaped from prison on December 5, 1997. Nkuna and Sibiya fired shots at warders before they hijacked a car.

The men were guarded in court on Monday by heavily armed police and members of the national intervention unit as well as warders from C-Max Prison for fear of another escape attempt.

The men's legal representative, Marius van Huyssteen, asked that the sentence for escaping be served concurrently with their previous sentences.

Chauke was sentenced to 15 years' imprisonment in August last year after he stole R12.6m from a depot of the SBV security company in Pretoria.

Stole cars to order

This week, Johnson sentenced him to three years' imprisonment for the illegal possession of ammunition and ordered that he serve this sentence with the 15 years. A sentence of another five years was imposed for escaping.

Nkuna and Sibiya were earlier sentenced to 100 years' imprisonment and will spend an effective 20 years in jail. The two, along with racing driver Willie Hepburn, formed part of a syndicate that stole cars to order.

Johnson sentenced both men to 25 years' on charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances and attempted murder. They will serve it concurrently with their previous sentences.

A sentence of another five years' was imposed on both for escaping.

- Beeld