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The High Court yesterday quashed a seven-year prison term imposed on South African businessman Frederick Lutzkie who crashed his helicopter in Gwanda and buried the wreckage after illegally entering Zimbabwe.
Justices Francis Bere and Charles Hungwe, sitting as a court of appeal, instead ordered Lutzkie to pay $400 for each of the 14 counts on which he was convicted.
In total, Lutzkie will pay $5,600 for all his offences.
The judges granted the appeal after convincing arguments by Advocate Thabani Mpofu.
He argued that the penalty imposed was severe and shocking considering that the pilot had pleaded guilty to the offences.
Lutzkie last year pleaded guilty to 14 counts of contravening sections of the Civil Aviation Act and the Immigration Act when he appeared before Vakayi Chikwekwe.
The facts are that during the period extending from February 1 to 28 last year, Lutzkie flew his helicopter from South Africa and landed at Doddieburn Range in Gwanda where he runs a game farm.
He was flying without permission from the Civil Aviation of Zimbabwe in accordance with the terms and conditions specified by the authority.
In terms of the Immigration Act, Lutzkie was supposed to go through immigration formalities which involve the stamping of his passport, but he evaded the immigration authorities.
He also exited the country without the knowledge of the Civil Aviation and immigration authorities.
Using the same method, Lutzkie illegally flew into Zimbabwe several times.
On April 27, Lutzkie fraudulently acquired an entry stamp at Beitbridge border post and used the same method to get an exit stamp.
On May 5, at around 9am, Lutzkie flew from a lodge in Gwanda en route to South Africa before crashing after flying for about four kilometres.
The court heard that he did not report the accident to the authorities within the stipulated 24 hours.
Lutzkie went on to dig a deep pit using an excavator and buried the wreckage of the helicopter before returning to South Africa.
The wreckage was recovered on May 20 after a tip-off.
Online Reporter