Kidnap accused in sudden dash from court

Leonard Hall is returned to custody. Picture / Greg Bowker

An alleged violent offender was able to leap from the dock and flee from a courtroom yesterday.

Leonard Archer Hall was appearing in the Auckland District Court on a historic breach-of-probation charge.

Hall has been in custody since June last year, when he allegedly shot at police and kidnapped an Asian family from St Lukes carpark.

He appeared in the court last week for a depositions hearing and was remanded in custody for trial in the High Court.

Witnesses in Courtroom 2 yesterday said Hall was flanked by two police officers - a female and male - when he appeared in the dock around 4.15pm.

A witness said there was no other security in the court at the time although two security guards had been sitting at the back of the courtroom for the appearance of another person before Hall.

The escape appeared to be opportunistic.

"I think he sized it up and thought, 'I'm out of here'.

"He flew over the top of the glass and flew out of the court room."

The police escorts gave chase, followed by more police and private security staff who came from a corridor that leads prisoners from the cells to the dock.

Hall, who has full facial tattoos, had appeared in the dock five to 10 minutes earlier but his case was stood down.

When he came back into court, he leaned into the glass partition and then suddenly leaped over, the witnesses said.

He was pursued down an escalator leading to the ground floor and on to Albert St.

Hall was seen running along Durham St West and police said he was caught at the intersection of Queen St and Victoria St.

He was taken back to court and appeared in the dock at 4.45pm.

He was handcuffed, with three police officers and one security guard in the dock.

Two other private security guards stood on either side of the public entrance to the courtroom.

The escape was not mentioned and Hall was remanded in custody to appear today.

Police spokeswoman Noreen Hegarty said a standard investigation would be carried out and Hall was likely to face charges in relation to the incident.

The Ministry of Justice would also investigate the escape.

Chubb security would not comment.

Hall was not handcuffed during last week's depositions hearing but was always flanked by two police officers while in the dock.

At that hearing, security guards warned a young woman who was caught signalling Hall.

She was told to stop communicating with him or she would be not allowed in the public gallery.

* Auckland City police would like to hear from any one who "encountered" Hall while he was briefly on the run. Contact the crime squad on (09) 302-6789.

- Additional reporting Elizabeth Binning