dyton mupawaenda
Court Correspondent
THE mandatory 10-year jail term for stealing TelOne drop wires was imposed on Tawanda Chirimuuta (32) by Harare magistrate Ruth Moyo yesterday.
Chirimuuta was convicted on his own plea of guilty for contravening the Postal and Telecommunications Act.
Prosecutor Ms Berlinda Chimuka proved that on Thursday last week at around 11:10 am, Chirimuuta was in the city centre at the corner of Samora Machel Avenue and Sam Nujoma Street when decided to steal the drop wires which were kept in a cage at a TelOne building.
He took two bundles of the drop wires and was seen by a security guard who was on duty.
Chirimuuta was arrested and the TelOne drop wires were recovered from him.
The wires were taken to the National Railways for weighing and they had a total of 791 grammes valued at US$79.
In his defence, Chirimuuta said he thought he had picked the drop wires at a dumping area and intended to use them to connect his solar battery at home.
Bongani Ndlovu
Online Reporter