Violent robbers get 10 years imprisonment
Tumelo Mouwane | Tuesday September 22, 2015 15:01
The three men, Kabo Loratile (20), Phenyo Rakebaang (19) and Thabo Keabetswe (19) were found guilty of violently robbing Thabiso Lekhane of money amounting to P800, a cooler bag valued at P350 and a black ZTE phone valued at P350, on March 14, 2015 in Gopong village.
The convicts are linked to a gang, which has been terrorising residents of Gopong in recent months.
When delivering sentence, Dipate expressed his wish to see the convicts rehabilitated after serving their sentence.
“We hope you will go and build yourself into better citizens that the country will benefit from.
You robbed the victim of his hard earned valuables and the court has to send a strong message out to the society that crime doesn’t pay. The court has taken into consideration that you were very young at the time of committing the offence.
“I sentence each of you to 10 years imprisonment. This will include the time you were remanded in custody and your sentence will run concurrently if you have any sentence you are serving,” he said.
Dipate advised the convicts to appeal the sentence at the Court of Appeal within 14 days if they are not satisfied.