East London Prisoner Shot and Killed After Brandishing Knife in Courtroom

• A 25-year-old prisoner appearing before the East London Magistrate's Court has been shot and killed by prisoners
• The prisoner was allegedly attempting to escape during his court hearing and brandished a knife
• It's currently unclear how the deceased was able to get hold of a knife and get it into a courtroom

A prisoner has been killed at a court hearing at the East London Magistrate's Court. The 25-year-old was shot by court security while trying to escape. He was appearing before the Magistrate for an escape charge in 2018.

Spokesperson for the police Brigadier Thembinkosi Kinana revealed that the deceased was being examined by the State. He then jumped from the witness box, knife in hand. An eyewitness stated that the prisoner ran straight to the State prosecutor.

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The witness spoke to DispatchLIVE, they explained that the prosecutor attempted to hide behind a table when the prisoner grabbed an access card from a clerk and tried to escape through a private entrance.

According to the report, there were two prison warders with the prisoner, they were seated outside the courtroom. The warders heard screams and ran inside to find the deceased attempting to escape.

The prisoner pulled out his knife as they approached him, they then fired two shots to his upper body, killing him in the process. He was declared dead at the scene by paramedics, according to algoaFM.

Brigadier Kinana revealed that the police do not know how the deceased managed to get a knife into the courtroom but that investigations were ongoing.

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Jacob Zuma's arms deal special hearing postponed, state medical team to examine medical report

In other courtroom news, Briefly News recently reported that reports state that former President Jacob Zuma's special plea hearing in relation to his arms deal corruption and fraud trial has been postponed until 20 and 21 September.

According to eNCA, the postponement was granted in favour of giving the medical team of doctors appointed by the National Prosecuting Authority an opportunity to have a thorough examination of Zuma's medical report provided by his medical team.

NPA spokesperson Mthunzi Mhaga explained that the court proceedings will take place virtually to allow the NPA appointed specialists to consider the medical evidence provided. Mhaga added that Zuma's medical team would be cooperating with the medical team.

Mhaga stated that he was unable to comment on whether or not Zuma's medical report would remain confidential.

Source: Briefly News