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- A suspect deemed extremely dangerous managed to escape custody at East London Magistrates Court on Thursday.
- Mcebisi Sondlo is accused of raping a 15-year-old girl in 2013.
- He also faces murder and robbery charges in another matter where a police officer was shot and killed during a shooting.
Eastern Cape police are silent on how a suspect, accused of raping a minor, managed to escape custody in East London Magistrates Court on Thursday.
A source with knowledge of the leak told News24 that the suspect, Mcebisi Sondlo, emerged from holding cells on December 17, detained court personnel at gunpoint and subsequently fled the building.
It is unknown how Sondlo allegedly came into possession of a firearm while in the holding cells.
The police confirmed the escape and added that the defendant appeared in court B when he escaped around 10:45. The police declined to elaborate and said they would be part of the investigation.
The Department of Correctional Services told News24 that the detainee was taken away by police on December 17, but that he was never returned to prison. As a result, the escape occurred while he was in police custody.
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Sondlo is charged with raping a 15-year-old girl on December 6, 2013, near Quigney, an east London suburb.
According to the State, the victim was in a nearby store, on the phone, when Sondlo detected her. While in the store, Sondlo allegedly grabbed the teenager and closed his mouth with his hands before shoving him towards the back of a store where he then threatened the victim with a knife.
He then allegedly proceeded to pull down the boy’s pants and, furthermore, it was alleged that he raped him. Subsequently, he allegedly told the victim that he loved him and threatened not to report the incident.
The teenage victim reported the matter six months later. It was recorded that the victim had visited a doctor for medical treatment, who had concluded that there was physical trauma consistent with aggressive forced penetration.
Sondlo was originally granted R500 bail and, after pleading not guilty in 2015, stopped going to court.
He then became a wanted person and was only found in October 2019 when information was received that Sondlo was in Wellington Prison in Umthatha, where he was a prisoner awaiting clue in a separate robbery and murder case.
In that matter, Sondlo was charged with robbery that led to a shootout with police that resulted in the death of a police officer and one of Sondlo’s co-defendants.
It is also alleged that Sondlo was wanted for other crimes in the Eastern and Western Cape.
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