Fortune Makoni, [email protected]
A 21-YEAR-OLD Nkayi man was fined US$200 by the Inyathi magistrates’ court for stabbing his elder brother with an okapi knife following a dispute over a cellphone charger at Best Nightclub.
Tadiwa Thebe was convicted of assault after pleading guilty to the charge stemming from the October 3, 2026 incident.
Prosecutor Farirai Chakamanga told the court that on the day in question, at around 5PM, Thebe’s elder brother, Philani Moyo, (27) asked him to hand over his cellphone charger, but he refused.
The court heard that the disagreement escalated, prompting Thebe to draw an okapi knife from his pocket and stab Moyo once in the left thigh.
Moyo, who resides in Greens area in Inyathi, and is employed at Khumalo’s Mine, sustained a deep cut to his left thigh.
In passing sentence, resident magistrate, Mr Challenge Mahembe considered that Thebe was a first offender who had pleaded guilty to the charge.
The court also took into account Moyo’s attitude, noting that he had accepted his younger brother’s apology and asked for a non-custodial sentence.
However, the court considered the use of a dangerous weapon an aggravating factor, emphasising that assault violates the right to human dignity and that offenders must be deterred from committing similar offences.
Mr Mahembe ruled that the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating circumstances and sentenced Thebe to pay a US$200 fine or the equivalent in Zimbabwe Gold (ZiG), failing which he would serve five months in prison.
Thebe was further sentenced to six months’ imprisonment, wholly suspended for five years on condition that he does not, during that period, commit an offence involving violence against another person for which he is sentenced to imprisonment without the option of a fine.
