PORT ELIZABETH, March 7 (ANA) – Eastern Cape police were on Tuesday still searching for a man who escaped while in lawful custody at the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court.
It is not clear whether the man in question is from Port Elizabeth as he supplied officials with an incorrect identity number and a Cape Town address.
He was arrested last week Thursday on fraud charges and was meant to make his first appearance in the Port Elizabeth Magistrate’s Court on Friday.
However, according to sources, drama and confusion broke out when court orderlies realised that the man had simply vanished ahead of his first appearance.
Some who witnessed the incident said they saw the man standing in the dock but the next moment he disappeared.
Video footage apparently shows that he simply walked out of the court room and left the building situated in North End.
Police spokesperson, Captain Sandra Janse Van Rensburg, confirmed the incident and said police were still searching for the suspect.
Janse Van Rensburg said that although the suspect was brought into court, no charge was put to him hence he could not be named at this stage.
-African News Agency (ANA)
