Robber jailed for 12 years

Darlmine Shirto, of B5243 Old Pumula and his accomplice, the late Dumisani Ndlovu committed the robbery and theft of the motor vehicles in 2010. Ndlovu was shot dead by police during a shootout as the two resisted arrest.
Shirto who was facing two counts of theft of motor vehicles and one of robbery was however found guilty of one count of theft of motor vehicles and robbery by Bulawayo regional magistrate Mrs Fadzai Mthombeni.

Shirto pleaded not guilty to all the three counts.
He was sentenced to five years for stealing the vehicles and seven years for robbery.
Shirto will however serve an effective nine years in prison after three years of the sentence were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour.

The State’s case presented by Mr Mazhar Petkar is that in September 2010 Shirto and Ndlovu hatched a plan to rob people of their cars.
On 23 September they went to Plumtree’s Hebron suburb at about 7.15am, and stole a vehicle belonging to the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and driven by Mr Mbulayi Moyo, an employee.
He had parked the car in front of a certain house intending to collect some water containers and had left the keys in the ignition.

Shirto and Ndlovu got into the car and drove off at high speed.
In the vehicle were a bunch of office keys, empty water containers, a pair of spectacles, a wheel spanner, carjack, a water meter with its keys and tape and nothing was recovered.
The duo later dumped the vehicle in Esigodini after removing new tyres and fitted it with old ones.

The NRZ logo on both doors had been scrapped off.
On the second count, Shirto and Ndlovu forcibly took one Ms Samukeliso Dube’s vehicle while at Esigodini’s Habane Township at gunpoint.

On 25 September 2010, at about 8.30pm, Ms Dube was driving out of her yard with the intention of going to rescue her husband who had a breakdown when she saw the two standing near her gate.
On her way back, she stopped her vehicle a few houses away to talk to a neighbour and Shirto and Ndlovu took advantage to pounce on her.

Ndlovu pointed a pistol at her and at the same time removing car keys from the ignition.
At that time, Shirto went to the passenger’s side where he opened the door and got into the passengers’ back seat while Ndlovu opened the door to the back seat behind the driver’s seat and shoved Ms Dube into the vehicle.

Shirto then forcibly took two cell phones with lines and they drove off from the scene.
They later dropped Ms Dube off near Esigodini cemetery.

The vehicle was found dumped five days later in Nkulumane 12.
After dumping the car, the duo went to Pumula East where they pounced on Mr Mhlawempi Khumalo, a Ministry of Health and Child Welfare employee and stole a government vehicle that was parked in his yard.

They dropped him off in Rangemore and drove to Gwanda via Kezi but were involved in an accident at the 16km peg along the Gwanda-Maphisa road during a speed chase with police.

Shirto and Ndlovu fled from the scene abandoning the vehicle and started shooting back at the police but Ndlovu was shot dead while Shirto was arrested on the spot.

Police recovered a pistol and Ndlovu’s National Identity Card, which was in the vehicle.