Justice Ngema

[Homicidalheathen]

Print ShareThisEDINBURGH, Scotland — A South African man pleaded guilty Friday to kidnapping a nurse in Scotland and keeping her locked in the trunk of a car for 10 days.

Justice Ngema, 35, pleaded guilty to 14 charges including assault, abduction and robbery, as well as several thefts. He faces sentencing in July.

Magdeline Makola, 38, also from South Africa, was rescued by police who found her in a car trunk in December.

"When I was taken I did not think I was going to survive and the experience of being trapped is one that will stay with me for the rest of my life," Makola said in a statement read outside the court by Detective Constable Kevin Huliston.

"I am pleased that Justice Ngema has pleaded guilty today and I want people to know that I feel no anger towards him, only pity. I wish him well in the future and I will pray for him," she added.

Prosecutors said Ngema had invited himself into her home and asked for a drink, then grabbed her neck with both hands.

"I'm a professional in this job, I kill people. You shut up right now," prosecutors quoted him as saying.

He punched her and used force to obtain her bank codes, prosecutors said, then carried her out and put her in the trunk of her own car. Prosecutors said Ngema used Makola's bank card to go Christmas shopping, in some cases with his girlfriend.

When police found Makola, she was severely dehydrated and had suffered kidney failure, prosecutor Alex Prentice said.

"She would not have survived a further two days," he said.

Detective Inspector Alan Sommerville, who led the investigation, praised Makola "for the strength and courage she has shown both during her ordeal and throughout her recovery."

"She is a remarkable individual," he said.