Man pleads guilty for escaping

A MAN who escaped from the Lae Central Police Station cells with 30 others in September pleaded guilty to the offence in court.
Walo John, 24, from Amele in Madang, and a resident of West Taraka suburb in Lae, appeared before Lae District Court Magistrate Isaac Tjipet, charged with escaping while under lawful custody in September.
John told the court that he escaped with 30 other remandees because he had been in custody for over a month and no charges had been laid against him.
He told the court that he could have stayed back in the cell but he feared being beaten up by police. John asked the court for mercy and leniency.
He said he was married and had a family to look after.
However, the court heard that John was previously remanded in custody for breaking and entering prior to his escape on Sept 1.
Police prosecutor submitted in court that the offence carried a maximum penalty of a fine not exceeding K4,000 and a jail term of not more than two years.
Magistrate Tijipet ruled that John pay a court fine of K500 or face six months in jail for the charge of escaping from custody.