A suspect based in Turkana County on Monday, March 25, escaped from Lodwar Law Courts shortly after taking a plea on allegations of theft of stock contrary to section 278 of the penal code.
According to a police report obtained by Kenyans.co.ke, the suspect was escorted by police officers from Katilu Police Station to the Law courts for plea-taking.
The suspect was restrained in cuffs alongside another suspect who was required to appear in courtroom Two after his charges were approved by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions (ODPP).
The lead officer in charge of the suspect requested another officer, believed to have been one of the court orderly officers from Lodwar Police Station, to look after the suspects as he went to print some documents from a cyber cafe in town.
The officer sought to return before the suspect's case began in court.
However, when he resumed he found that the plea-taking was already done, the suspect had pleaded guilty to the charge and the sentencing was scheduled for April 15, 2024.
The officer, however, realised that the suspect was missing and the cop left in charge was also not in the court area.
He alerted his colleagues who conducted a search operation in the surrounding area but the suspect was not found. The officers released details of the suspect and urged the public to assist in retrieving him.
They indicated that he is a 32-year-old, with a dark complexion, 5.6 inches tall, and hails from Lokapel in Turkana South.
Officers have since launched investigations to locate the suspect and establish how he managed to escape the courtroom despite the presence of law enforcement officers.
The police will also seek to find the whereabouts of the officer left in charge and interrogate him to determine how the convict escaped his sight.