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Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
A SERIAL car thief from Kwekwe has been sentenced to 14 years in jail for stealing a commuter omnibus and a Peugeot 206 on separate occasions.
Casian Muzondiwa-Mukarati (19) of Mbizo high-density suburb in Kwekwe had pleaded guilty to two counts of theft of a motor vehicle when he appeared before Gokwe-Kwekwe regional magistrate Mr Amos Mbobo.
He was convicted and sentenced to 14 years on both counts.
Mr Mbobo, however, suspended five years from the sentence on condition that Mukarati does not commit a similar crime five years after his release.
The State’s case was that on December 5, Mukarati stole a Peugeot 206 sedan which was parked outside a house in Mbizo high-density suburb.
The matter was reported to the police who launched a manhunt for him.
Mukarati was later spotted by the police driving the stolen vehicle in Gokwe.
When the police approached him, he slipped away and fled towards Chitekete where he dumped the vehicle by the roadside after it ran out of fuel.
The vehicle was recovered by the police.
On January 3 this year, an unrepentant Mukarati went back to Kwekwe where he stole a parked commuter omnibus from Kwekwe long distance bus terminus after the driver of the vehicle left the keys in the ignition while booking a parking spot.
Mukarati drove off towards Harare before dumping the vehicle at Truckers Inn in the outskirts of Kwekwe after it again ran out of fuel. He was arrested soon after dumping the vehicle.
The total value of the stolen vehicles was US$12 000.
Mr Robert Ndlala prosecuted.
Online Reporter