A plan by an alleged killer to escape police custody at Wynberg Magistrate's Court was thwarted when cops surrounded the man and blocked the courtroom doors.
Ziyaad Haywood, 34, appeared nervous as he was surrounded by eight cops in Court 4 on Friday alongside his father, Moegsien Haywood, on armed robbery charges.
Haywood, who appeared on the province’s top 10 most wanted criminals list after he allegedly shot and killed security guard Herman Hendricks at China Town in Ottery on 5 November 2016, was wanted for various other crimes including hijackings, armed robberies and possession of illegal firearms.
The man dubbed as the “closet killer” had been on the run for almost two years but on 7 July Grassy Park cops searched his parents’ home in Tsessebe Way, Lotus River, where they found Haywood hiding in a secret room hidden behind a cupboard.
Moegsien and his wife Julega were arrested for harbouring a fugitive but later released on R2 000 bail.
According to a well-placed source, cops had become aware of a plan by Haywood to escape on Friday and put measures in place.
“He planned to run away at his next appearance but we were wys of him and made sure he was not going anywhere.”
During court proceedings, Magistrate Goolam Bawa informed Moegsien the charges against him had been withdrawn and he was free to leave.
However, the state prosecutor informed the court the National Prosecuting Authority (NPA) is preparing a High Court indictment for the murder and were in the process of consolidating his other cases.
Commenting on the tight security, Bawa questioned whether Haywood’s next appearance could be done via the audio-video remand (AVR) system, but his lawyer said if he was going to be handed an indictment, he would be required to be at court.
The case was postponed to 11 December.