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.
Sadiki was supposed to be facing court proceedings for charges of breaking an 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 local media reports.
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.
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 firm, the escapee wastes no times in scarpering.
He sprints down a flight of steps and off into the surrounding neighbourhood.
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.
“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 layer, 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.”
And it seemed to inspire a note of a 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.”
