BRAZEN ESCAPE
Shock moment thief escapes court by climbing out WINDOW and lowering himself down 3-storey building in bid for freedom
Watch footage of the brazen breakout in the player
THIS is the unbelievable moment a thief escapes from court by slipping through a window and clambering down a three-storey building.
The daring escape was pulled off by Onoshana Thando Sadiki from Jeppe Magistrate's Court in Johannesburg, South Africa.
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Sadiki was supposed to be facing court proceedings for charges of breaking and entry and theft on Tuesday afternoon - but he had other ideas.
The suspect bolted through the court room door while the magistrate was speaking, according to .
The court was sealed off but Sadiki had vanished, and his bold escape was filmed by an astounded onlooker in a neighbouring building.
Footage shows the wily defendant clinging onto vertical beams on the outside of the court building, perilously high up.
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He then slides down the outer face - using the railing to slow his descent - and lands on the next floor down.
From there, he makes a huge leap and plunges the rest of the distance to the ground.
Once on terra firma, the escapee wastes no times in scarpering.
He sprints down a flight of steps and off into the surrounding neighbourhood.
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Sadiki's freedom was only temporary, however, as he was nabbed again the next day while on the run.
Colonel Dimakatso Nevhuhulwi, a Guateng police spokesperson, said: "The suspect escaped when he was appearing at Jeppe Magistrate's Court on a charge of housebreaking and theft.
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“He was rearrested today, February 19, 2025, at Malvern by the Jeppe tracing team and will be further charged with escape from lawful custody."
In a separate video, Sadiki reflected on the moment he made a break for it.
He said: "When the judge called me the first time there was no one there.
"So I saw there was no one there. After that I just looked at the door."
He said the judge had been intending to postpone the trial.
Sadiki continued: "I'm telling my lawyer, you must do the guilty [verdict] now.
"I want my thing now. No matter what it is, I don't want to go back to trial."
Footage of the bold break-out went viral on social media in South Africa.
One user joked: "He's really a master mind of house breaking."
Another said: "You can see he is used to housebreaking. The way he comfortably went down that wall is very Tom Cruise-like."
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And it seemed to inspire a note of patriotism in a third, who said: "They don't make criminals anywhere else like they do here in South Africa.
"If there was a World Cup for criminality South Africa would win gold every single time."
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