Online Reporter
Danisa Masuku, Court Writer
A DETECTIVE Constable Wellington Ndoro (38), who was stationed at CID Nkulumane, Bulawayo, appeared in court with his three accomplices facing an attempted robbery charge.
Ndoro, Felias Mvula, Julius Mugwagwa, and Silence Kwangwa appeared before Bulawayo regional magistrate Mark Dzira on Thursday. They were not asked to plead and only spoke to confirm the allegations they are facing. Mvula, Mugwagwa, Kwangwa, and Ndoro were remanded in custody and will be back in court on 16 December.
Representing the State, Ms Hazel Ncube told the court that Ndoro and his accomplices hatched a plan to rob Mr Casey Bean, a Victoria Falls resident, after they gathered that he kept large sums of money and other valuable items at his home.
“On 14 December 2023, Ndoro and his accomplices connived to go to Victoria Falls from Bulawayo. They arrived at around 9PM and found the complainant watching television, sitting in his living room,” she said.
“The complainant was alerted by his daughter that there were four intruders who had scaled over the precast wall and were in his yard. The complainant checked and saw one of the accused trying to force open the main door.
“One of the accused persons was left outside the yard as a sentry while Ndoro was in the car,” said Ms Ncube.
The court heard that the complainant alerted the neighbourhood watch response team and the police, who reacted swiftly.
“Mr Bean dashed out of the house clutching a knobkerrie. Upon realising that the complainant had seen them, the four accused who were in the yard scaled the precast wall in different directions.
“Ndoro, who was waiting in the getaway vehicle, a Toyota Corolla, started the vehicle, and the other one, who was a sentry, jumped in and attempted to drive away at high speed,” said Ms Ncube.
“The response team, who were driving a Toyota Land Cruiser, gave chase and caught up with it. The neighbourhood watch response team’s motor vehicles hit the accused person’s motor vehicle from behind, and the vehicle stopped.
The two accused jumped out and started running in different directions,” the court heard.
The court heard that the ZRP teams and the neighbour watch response team started searching for the accused persons, and Ndoro was found hiding at a house, while Mvula was arrested while hiding in a trench along a road.
Mugwagwa and Kwangwa were later arrested in Bulawayo by CID Homicide, who recovered a pistol with an erased serial number.
