Kidnapper's 'accomplice' story fails to get into first gear

A sceptical magistrate took matters into his own hands when a suspected hijacker tried to pin the crime on his accomplice.

Peter Masheza‚ 43‚ told Blue Downs Magistrate’s Court that his female companion had hijacked a man dropping staff in Mfuleni before driving him around Khayelitsha and abandoning him in a locked shack.

His story was corroborated by the companion‚ but the magistrate doubted her truthfulness.

“The magistrate took (her) for a drive. She did not even know how to put the vehicle into first gear‚” Western Cape police spokesman FC van Wyk said on Wednesday. “She came out with the truth when she learned (she had been) caught out.”

Masheza was sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment for robbery and five years for kidnapping following the incident in August 2015.