Man steals 90ltrs of diesel to buy shoes

By Samson Muchirahondo
A Shurugwi man recently left the court in stitches after he confessed before a local Magistrate that, he stole 90 liters of diesel to buy better shoes for himself.
Martin Mugwamba (23) of Sherekete Village told Shurugwi Resident Magistrate Mr Sangster Tavengwa that his shoes were severely torn and he stole 90 liters of diesel so that he could sell the merchandise to buy a better pair for himself.
Mugwamba was facing charges of unlawful entry and theft as defined in section 113 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act (Chapter 9:23).
Prosecuting, Mrs Bertha Bore told the court that, on July 27 2018 at around 04:30hrs the accused broke into Forget Chikuni’s storage facility located at Sherekete Business Centre and stole three plastic containers that contained 90 liters of diesel.
After making gains out of Chikuni’s loss Mugwamba disposed three empty containers that contained the fuel he had stolen.
The matter was reported at Tongogara police station leading to thorough investigations by the local constabulary.
As fate would have it, the police constabulary recovered diesel contaminated containers which the accused used to store the diesel after disposing the complaint’s containers to cover up the crime.
The diesel stolen was valued at US$132
Magistrate Tavengwa sentenced Mugwamba to 6 months imprisonment of which 2 months were suspended for three years on condition of good behavior and a further two months were suspended on condition that the accused restitutes the complainant, leaving the accused to serve an effective two months at Whawha Central Prison.