adminThubelihle Mabhena Court Reporter
A BULAWAYO restaurant worker who raided his Chinese employer’s premises and assaulted a guard with an iron bar leaving him for dead before stealing $6,920 and R2,500 has been sentenced to an effective 12 months in prison.Polite Dlodlo, 23, of Entumbane suburb, was convicted of robbery by Bulawayo magistrate Marylin Mtshina and sentenced to 18 months in prison.
He will, however, serve an effective 12 months in jail after Mtshina suspended six months on condition of good behaviour. Dlodlo, who had pleaded not guilty, was represented by Cedrick Dube of Cheda and Partners law firm.
Dube had appealed to the court to sentence Dlodlo to community service since he was a first offender. However, in handing down sentence, Mtshina said robbery was a serious crime which deserved a custodial sentence.
“Robbery doesn’t get any other sentence other than a custodial sentence. It’s an aggravated offence because you hit the security guard with a bottle on the head until he was incapacitated. You’re sentenced to 18 months imprisonment of which six months are suspended on condition of good behaviour”.
For the State Dumisani Ndlovu said on April 20 at around 6PM, Liyun Hue, the owner of Beijing restaurant in Suburbs, was sitting at the front counter of the restaurant.
Ndlovu said Dlodlo scaled a precast wall surrounding the restaurant before hitting the guard on the head with an empty beer bottle resulting in him losing consciousness.
Clad in a black trench coat, Dlodlo approached his employer who was in the restaurant and switched off the lights, the court heard.
He produced an iron bar and slammed it on the counter, forcing Hue to hide under it in fear. Ndlovu told the court: “After noticing that his employer had hidden under the counter, Dlodlo proceeded to take a bag which contained all the cash that the business had made that day.”
He said Dlodlo went away with $6,920 and R2,500. He dug a pit and hid the money in a nearby bush. After Hue recovered, he was assisted to make a report to the police.
Police detectives discovered Dlodlo’s trench coat, which he had left behind while fleeing, at the crime scene.
Brighton Mpofu, one of the restaurant employees and a friend to Dlodlo, confirmed the jacket belonged to Dlodlo.
“Dlodlo was arrested and led the police to where he had hidden the money,” said Ndlovu.
Online Reporter