Chronicle EditorThupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
Three men from Beitbridge who are believed to be part of an armed robbers gang that has been terrorising people around the border town have each been jailed for an effective 10 years by the local regional magistrate court.
Nkosi Nkomo (27), Majajama Ndlovu (24) and Hulisani Ndou (21) were sent to prison by regional magistrate Ms Charity Maphosa for a crime committed in September last year.
Although they pleaded not guilty to a charge of robbery, they were convicted on the strength of overwhelming evidence.
They were left with 10 years effective in jail when Ms Maphosa set aside from the 12 years term one for five years on condition of good behaviour and another one year on condition of restitution of the stolen property.
Prosecuting, Mr Willbrought Muleya said on September 18 last year at around 1 am the trio along with two others still at large pounced on the complainant in the low density suburbs after finding him fixing his vehicle.
The gang scaled up the security wall and confronted the man and produced a firearm threatening to kill him if he resisted their demands.
They immediately took away two smartphones from him and marched him into his house at gunpoint.
Nkomo and his accomplices took a laptop and a hair clipper and fled from the scene.
The matter was reported to the police and the trio were tracked via a cell phone to Musina in South Africa where they were later arrested for violating immigration laws and were also found with the pistol, a hammer and the laptop.
After Which they were deported and were arrested during security vetting in Beitbridge.
Online Reporter