Mcebisi Sondlo, an awaiting-trial prisoner who overpowered a police officer, locked him in a holding cell, and fled in 2020, has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for robbery with aggravating circumstances.
Sondlo, 37, a father of two teens, was sentenced in the East London magistrate’s court on Monday.
He was also sentenced to seven years for possession of a firearm, five years for escaping from custody and four years for fraud. He was declared unfit to possess a firearm.
The sentences will run concurrently.
Sondlo, who was in custody charged with rape when he made his daring escape in December 2020, pleaded guilty only to the count of fraud. It is understood that he was acquitted of rape.
After he was accused of raping a 13-year-old boy in Quigney in 2013, Sondlo was released on R500 bail, but in 2015 he stopped making his required court appearances and become a wanted person.
After his escape, he was rearrested in May 2021 while using a temporary driver’s licence carrying his photograph, and the name Sive Coza. The arrest followed the shooting of a jogger in Kuni, East London.
He and his co-accused had allegedly accosted the jogger who was reportedly shot multiple times.
When he applied for bail in this case he was identified as Mcebisi Sondlo through his fingerprints.
He is due back in court on March 30 to face charges of attempted murder.
During his sentencing on Monday, magistrate Mthuthuzeli Bululu said Sondlo was convicted of a serious crime, and that the police officer he locked in the cell was still living with the traumatic experience.
The Bululu said he was struggling to find any compelling and substantial reasons to justify deviating from the prescribed minimum sentence of 15 years for the aggravated robbery.
The magistrate said the manner in which he escaped from custody was “aggravating in itself”.
During his escape, Sondlo pointed a firearm at a policeman and demanded his keys and cellphone, before locking him in a cell that held another prisoner.
He then ran into the court from the holding cells with the other prisoner.
He had the policeman’s keys, wallet and cellphone.
Those in the bail court were shocked to see two prisoners re-emerge after initially being taken down to the holding cells.
It was unclear how he had obtained a firearm while in custody, but four defence lawyers and a state prosecutor found themselves staring down the barrel of Sondlo’s gun on the morning of December 18 2020.
The second prisoner was apprehended, but Sondlo ran through the court building and past the security checkpoint at the entrance.
During sentencing arguments, the court heard Sondlo had a previous conviction for fraud.
The court said the conviction and sentence meted out to Sondlo gave him an “opportunity to change, but you don’t seem ready to change”.
Daily Dispatch
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