adminThupeyo Muleya
TWO notorious house breakers who were arrested late last year after being on the police wanted list for almost 10 years were yesterday jailed for 22 and 20 years.
Patrick Mulambo alias Ngorima and Farai Mutomba were arrested in October last year along with Cheeseman Vutete (39) in connection with 24 counts of housebreaking and theft.
Vutete was later acquitted and discharged for lack of evidence.
Ngorima and Mutomba, all of no fixed abode, are accused of breaking into 24 houses and stealing electrical gadgets between March and October last year alone and were each imprisoned for 22 and 20 years.
The two had denied the charges when their trial opened before Matabeleland South regional magistrate Mr Joseph Maveza last year but were convicted on the strength of overwhelming evidence.
Mulambo is already serving 15 months imprisonment for two more counts.
Prosecuting Mr Johannes Tlou said the trio who operated as a team connived to break into 24 houses where they would steal an assortment of electrical gadgets, cellphones and clothes between March and October last year.
He said they would use iron bars to break into some of the houses and that until their arrest they were hiding on the banks of the Limpopo River.
He said the trio used Vutete’s unregistered Toyota Corolla as a get-away car and to ferry the loot.
Ngorima and Mutomba were in the habit of pouncing on the houses between 1 and 3am in the morning.
The court further heard that during that period the two stole property worth $15 576 and that only property worth $3 995 was recovered from them.
Mr Tlou added that all the matters were reported to the police leading to the accused’s arrest following a tip-off.
He said following their arrest the accused persons led the police to most of the houses they had broken into.
They also took the detectives to their safe house in Dulibadzimu where some of the items were recovered and positively identified by their owners.
Online Reporter