Msengi s/o Kiula v. R., Crim. App 101-D-68, 20/3/68, Hamlyn J.

Msengi s/o Kiula v. R., Crim. App 101-D-68, 20/3/68, Hamlyn J.

Accused was convicted of attempting to escape from lawful custody. After being arrested he suddenly bolted from the police station where he was being booked. A policeman chased accused and recaptured him almost immediately.

            Held: “The trial magistrate was perhaps a little over-cautious in regarding  this sudden dash for liberty by the (accused) as an attempted escape only. I would have though that the fct that he gained liberty from restraint constituted the matter an “escape’ in the fullest sense of the word. There is no necessity, so far as I know, for the escaper to be at liberty for any length of time, and the fact that he attains such liberty free from restriction (albeit he is being chased during that period) does in fact constitute the full offence. An attempt to escape, on the other hand, would seem to apply to an instance where a prisoner in handcuffs was found to be opening these instruments prior to decamping, or a person confined in a locked cell was discovered opening the door,

The lock of which he had picked, but had not put the whole of his intention into effect by absconding through the open door.” Accused received a sentence of three months imprisonment for escaping from lawful custody.