KOTA KINABALU: A man, who has just been sentenced to six months’ jail, jumped off the second floor of the Keningau Magistrate’s Court building in a bid to escape imprisonment.
However, 24-year-old Muhammad Safwan Shahir Jasuf Abdullah was caught seven hours later after police located him hiding in a chicken coop at a government quarters area close to the old Keningau hospital about 100km from here.
Keningau district police chief Supt Yampil Garai said the incident occurred just after the man was sentenced by magistrate Flavian Edward Henry.
He was convicted at about 2.30pm on Monday under Section 15(1)(a) of the Dangerous Drugs Act 1952 for administering drugs to himself.
“As soon as the six-month prison sentence was read out, the man suddenly jumped out of the dock, pushed a glass window and jumped from the second floor.
“He headed towards a garage roof along the building before jumping off and running towards the fences around the court compound,” he said yesterday.
The suspect managed to make his way towards a roundabout on the main road and hid.
Explaining events leading to the escape, Supt Yampil said the man’s handcuffs were removed, along with those of six other prisoners, when he was brought to the dock.
“He was not handcuffed at the time as it was taken off for the sentencing process,” he said.
Supt Yampil said the Magistrate’s Court chambers did not have iron grills on their windows and only the Sessions Courtroom at the lower level was fully grilled.
“The four closed circuit cameras in the area at the scene were also not working,” he added.
Following the incident, a police team comprising CID and Special Branch personnel from the district police headquarters swung into action and tracked the man to his hideout at about 9.30pm.
“The man was arrested in the residential area of the government quarters, near the Keningau old hospital building while hiding in a chicken coop around the quarters,” he said.
He said the man is now also being investigated for escaping custody under Sections 223 and 224 of the Penal Code.
