THE head of Nelspruit jail and two warders pleaded not guilty on Tuesday to helping a prisoner escape after he allegedly paid them R15000. Prison head Thami German Chiloane, 39, and warders Vusimuzi Nkosi, 35, and Jojo Khoza, 37, appeared in the Nelspruit District Court on a corruption charge. They claimed that Leon Jackson, 27, sought to reduce his sentence by implicating them in a crime they did not commit when he escaped in 1997. Jackson, serving seven years for fraud, told Magistrate Piet Smit that Nkosi offered to secure an early release for him in return for R15000. Jackson said he was taken from the jail by Nkosi in a correctional services car, with Khoza at the main gate. He was released in the city centre after his girlfriend paid Nkosi, but was later rearrested, he said. The three accused were released on warning until December 13.