Prisoner shot dead in mass escape bid

A PRISONER was shot dead in a dramatic breakout staged by 13 awaiting trial prisoners at the Mthatha High Court yesterday.

A member of the specialised SAPS National Intervention Unit (NIU), who was escorting the prisoners, was stabbed shortly before the 13 made a run for it from the court holding cells.

They fled through the court complex and had to be flushed out by police. One of the escapees, Kubobonke Madikane, 25, was fatally wounded after he allegedly stabbed a police captain attached to the NIU.

Police spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Mzukisi Fatyela said the incident happened at 8.30am inside the court building.

“It is alleged that one of the prisoners drew a knife and charged at one of the escorting police officers. He stabbed the officer in the hands, badly injured him and tried to take his firearms.

“Prisoners escaped in all directions in the court and tried to hide. They were fortunately all rearrested. One of them armed with a knife was fatally wounded.”

Fatyela said that some of the inmates had hidden in passages and in other areas of the complex. “But police quickly cornered and rearrested them and put them back into the cells.”

When a reporter arrived at the scene the body of the prisoner was lying near the back gate entrance.

Fatyela said police would be investigating how the prisoner came to possess the knife.

Court proceedings were delayed for four hours as crime investigators, including the police watchdog, the Independent Police Investigative Directorate (Ipid), combed the crime scene.

Fatyela said the inmates tried to escape when they were led to the holding cells after being off-loaded from the police van.

He said an inquest docket had been opened.

“But the case has been referred to Ipid as we cannot investigate ourselves.”

Fatyela said the injured officer was a 59-year-old captain on court duty.

Among the 13 escapees were four who were involved in cases involving business robbery, one of which was at the Libode Post Office in March 2015 in which a police officer was killed.