/ 11 September 2006

Woman in court for hoax hijacking

A woman arrested for claiming that hijackers took her daughter and her vehicle in Johannesburg will appear in the Booysens Magistrate’s court on Tuesday, police said.

”Police still have to gather more information before going to court,” said Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht.

Lutricia Magwe will face charges of perjury and defeating the ends of justice after police found that she fabricated her daughter Lebohang’s capture.

After hours of police search on Sunday, the six-year-old was found at her grandparents’ home in Dobsonville, Soweto. She had apparently been there all the time.

Magwe also told police that Lebohang had been snatched when hijackers stole her father’s white Toyota bakkie in Nasrec near the FNB stadium on Sunday.

”There is no car. The woman couldn’t produce either vehicle papers or a driver’s licence,” Engelbrecht said.

She said about 40 police officers had been involved in the search, and all vehicles in the Johannesburg area had been looking out for the missing vehicle and child from about 7am until after 3pm.

”We had a dog unit, rescue team, detectives and people who normally work in the charge office all searching for the child.

”We are not going to tolerate any behaviour like the one shown by Magwe,” she said. – Sapa