STAFF and pupils at the Durban School for the Hearing Impaired were left traumatised after a prisoner escaped from Amanzimtoti Magistrate’s Court and made his escape through the school on Wednesday afternoon, 22 June.
One teacher, who wished to remain anonymous, said staff members and pupils were “petrified” after the incident. “The prisoner tried to gain access to the therapist’s office where she was with a pupil, but fortunately she managed to push him out and lock the door. Both of them have been left very shaken by this.
Staff and pupils are traumatised by the event and we believe if it happened once, it can happen again.”
To date they have not heard anything from their principal and no counselling has been provided for them by the education department. “It is just business as usual this morning (Thursday), like nothing has happened,” said the teacher. “We have all had a sleepless night and something needs to be done about this.”
The Sun sent queries to the department of education and is awaiting a response.
Quick action from ET Rapid Response members soon saw the prisoner back behind bars.
“Our tactical response team (TRT) was on the way back to Amanzimtoti SAPS with a hijacked vehicle we had recovered earlier in the day,” said South Coast managing member, Tony Lokker.
As they drove into the police station, the prisoner ran past them with a policeman in pursuit. “After a foot chase, the man was found hiding in a dustbin on the school grounds by our TRT members,” said Lokker.
The man was being processed for theft at Amanzimtoti Court, when he managed to break free and attempted to escape. He was handed back to Toti SAPS and will face additional charges.
