Jailed For Stealing Power Generators

Correspondent | Monday February 15, 2016 16:04

 

The accused, Patrick Mohlachwa, and James Munyoro were convicted after being found guilty of three counts of stealing generators belonging to farmers at Mokgalo cattlepost and Mosetse village on September 23, 2014.

The accused were each sentenced to three years in jail for each count while Munyoro escaped jail by a whisker after he was given a suspended sentence for five years on condition that he does not commit any offence within that period.

In addition, Munyoro was sentenced to two strokes for each count.

Passing sentence, Principal Magistrate Dumisani Basupi said the accused were very determined to commit the offences.

Basupi said as it appeared in evidence Mohlachwa borrowed a vehicle from one of his relatives.

Basupi said a lot was expected from Mohlachwa because he is a former police officer but he chose to behave in a criminal way.

Said Basupi: “The way Mohlachwa behaved is an aggravating factor that betrayed his mitigation. I also find that the offences were committed in the same day but the accused did not benefit from their nefarious acts because they were caught in the early hours of the following day.”

Inspector Oteng Selalame represented the state in the matter. In a related matter, Mohlachwa and three other men not before court allegedly stole generators at Mosetse village on May 10, 2014. The state says that the stolen generator was worth P11,000.

The state also alleges that the quartet stole another generator valued at P18,000 at Debetshaa cattlepost near Mosetse.

Asked if he had anything to say concerning the charge, Mohlachwa applied that Basupi should recuse himself from the matter because he was biased against him.

An angry looking Mohlachwa told Basupi that he was not happy with the previous conviction hence his application for the magistrate to recuse himself from the matter.

However, Basupi told Mohlachwa that he was not happy with the manner that he (Mohlachwa) was addressing him.

Mohlachwa had earlier on addressed Basupi as “you” as opposed to “your worship.”

The magistrate advised Mohlachwa that there was nothing wrong with him applying for his (Basupi) recusal from the case but his application should be based on valid reasons.

Meanwhile, a Zimbabwean man was sentenced to three years in jail after he pleaded guilty to one count of giving false information to a person employed in the public service in order to illegally obtain a national identity card, Omang.

Passing sentence, Basupi said Gadzanani Mogewu (40) intentionally applied for Omang while in actual fact he knew that he was not a citizen of Botswana.

Basupi said he took into consideration that Mogewu was a first offender, a factor that works favourably for him.

Basupi added: “You also pleaded guilty to the offence which is a sign of remorse and you did not waste the court’s time. However, offences of this nature are becoming prevalent in this jurisdiction... In passing sentences the court shall bear in mind that many people are committing this offence hence the courts are enjoined to pass sentences that will deter others from committing similar offences in future.”