A HARARE man Papa Bverekwa was yesterday slapped with an effective 10 years jail sentence after regional magistrate Ignatio Mhene convicted him of stealing Zesa armoured cables worth US$1 400.
The 30-year-old Bverekwa had argued that he was never found in possession of the cables, but was only implicated because he allegedly passed through the crime scene.
Circumstances around the case were that on January 14 last year at around 0300hours, two security guards who were on duty at Dunstan Quarry in Graniteside, Harare, heard some noise coming from the holding bay and they decided to go and check.
Upon arrival at the place, the security guards reportedly saw a group of men who were seated around a fireplace, burning something.
The court heard that the guards advanced towards the fireplace and discovered that Bverekwa and his accomplice, who is still at large, were burning armoured cables.
Before the guards could even question them, they fled in different directions, but the security guards managed to arrest Bverekwa after a chase.
They recovered seven burnt armoured cables weighing 70 kilogrammes with a value of US$1 400.