adminLetwin Mubonesi
A HABITUAL burglar was last week arraigned before a Mutare senior magistrate facing five counts of unlawful entry. Stephen Wayne Kudinha (26) appeared before Mrs Sekai Chiundura pleading guilty to all the counts of theft as defined in Section 137 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act.
Mr Fletcher Karombe appeared for the State.
It was the State’s case that on February 12, Kudinha in the company of Wellington Ngungunyana who is still at large broke into Linda Pahla’s house and stole various items.
“Pahla retired to bed at around 10.30pm. Kudinha and Ngungunyana used an iron bar to force open the door and gained entry.
“They stole a tablet phone, three blankets, three pairs of shoes, a navy blue short, a pair of skin jeans, a bag and a comforter. The complainant discovered the theft the following day and made a police report. Police detectives later received information implicating the accused persons. Kudinha was arrested, leading to the recovery of two blankets,” said Mr Karombe.
In pleading guilty, Kudinha explained to the court how he used the iron bar to open the locked door.
“I used an iron bar to open the locked door and I stole the above mentioned items. I erred Your Worship, please forgive me,” he said.
On the second count, he broke into Never Emmanuel‘s house at Mutare Teachers’ College and stole a laptop.
“I entered through the window which was open. Please forgive me Your Worship. I know what I did was wrong,” he pleaded.
On February 14 he broke into Kudzai Nyambawaro’s premises and stole a laptop, a mattress, 12 blankets, two Omega radio speakers, four bed covers, two pairs of sheets, two black monarch bags, eight pairs of shoes and a belt.
He also used an iron bar to break into the house.
On the fourth count, Kudinha broke into Rumbidzai Tsuro’s house and stole a laptop and a Samsung galaxy tablet phone.
“He broke into Tsuro’s hostel at Mutare Teachers’ College and stole the above mentioned items. He went away unnoticed. He later sold the laptop to Evermay Kapfunye and the value of the stolen goods is $320. He was arrested on February 28, after police detectives received a tip-off that he had stolen the goods,” said Mr Karombe.
Kudinha also confessed to breaking into Luke Chakaza’s house and stole 59 shirts of various types, 26 trousers of different types, two black handbags, a travelling bag, CDMA handset, LG cellphone, power bank, a solar lamp, bank cards as well as identification cards.
He was remanded in custody to Wednesday awaiting sentencing.
Online Reporter