adminMashudu Netsianda Senior Court Reporter
TWO Bulawayo men who have been breaking into several houses in the city’s up market suburbs for the past three months, stealing plasma television sets and cellphones worth thousands of dollars, were yesterday each sentenced to 22 years in jail. Thabo Nkomo, 35, and Nkululeko Ndlovu, 30, both of St Peters Extension, were convicted on their own pleas of guilty to 14 counts of unlawful entry and theft by Bulawayo magistrate Tinashe Tashaya.
Eight years were suspended for five years on condition that they do not within that period commit a similar crime. Another five years were further suspended on condition that the pair restitutes $4,820 being the value of the goods which were not recovered. They were given up to October 30 to pay the money.
The crime spree, which began in July, targeted houses in Selborne Brooke, New Parklands and Kumalo among others. The burglars stole plasma television sets, cellphones, tablets, DVD players and several other electrical gadgets all valued at $5,420. In passing sentence, Tashaya said it was clear that the two men pre-planned to commit the crimes.
“Despite that Nkomo and Ndlovu are first offenders, they shouldn’t expect leniency from the courts. What’s aggravating is that you actually planned well in advance to break into the victims’ houses and steal their property. “Such offences attract a custodial sentence and the courts have a duty to protect members of the community by sending you to jail for a very long time,” said Tashaya.
Prosecuting, Nkathazo Dlodlo said between July 25 and September 15 this year, Nkomo and Ndlovu broke into 14 houses in several suburbs and stole household property.
On July 25 shortly after 2.30AM, Misheck Khumalo of New Parklands retired to bed after securing his windows and locking all the doors to his house. The court heard that Nkomo and Ndlovu forced open one of the sliding doors to the house before cutting a chain that secured the burglar bars. They got in and stole a 32 inch Telefunken plasma television set, DVD player, blanket, 10kgs of beef and two flash drives before they disappeared.
They sold the goods in Iminyela suburb. The following day at about 11PM, the two men descended on another house in the same suburb.
They destroyed the door locking system and went away with a 40 inch plasma television set. “On August 28 at about 1AM, Nkomo and Ndlovu went to Priscilla Nyaguze’s house in New Parklands while she was asleep. They gained entry into the house through the main door which was not locked and stole a 42 inch plasma television set and fled unnoticed,” said Dlodlo.
The court heard that on September 11 in the early morning hours, the pair broke into Flourie Nancy Elain’s house in Kumalo and stole a plasma television set, flash drives, an external computer hard drive, a fan and a pair of sunglasses. Again, they took the stolen property to Iminyela suburb and sold it. On September 12 at around 2AM, they went to Thandiwe Gwatsvaira’s house in Selborne Brooke and forced open the window to access one of the rooms.
While inside they took a 40 inch Samsung plasma television set, a single plate stove, chicken and other foodstuff and took to their heels unnoticed. They also sold the items in Iminyela suburb. On September 13 shortly after 3PM, the two went to a house in Selborne Park and stole a Samsung laptop and a Galaxy tablet phone. The owner of the house, Thembinkosi Bhebhe, spotted them and screamed for help and they fled. The stolen property was once again taken to Iminyela suburb where it was sold.
The two men were arrested on September 15 after they were caught by Derek Sibanda loading his stolen property into their car outside his house in Killarney. He notified the police leading to Nkomo and Ndlovu’s arrest. They then led police detectives to a house in Iminyela suburb where some of the stolen property was recovered.
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