Fake doctor wants to pursue real medicine

Pini Bothoko | Thursday June 29, 2017 16:29

 

Dithebe forged a doctor’s identification card and lured his victim to Princess Marina Hospital where he made off with the phone, an incident police suspect is just the tip of the iceberg.

Mitigating yesterday before Extension II Magistrate, Ntombizodwa Ncube, Dithebe asked for a chance to go back to school and pursue medicine.

“I am humbly pleading with the court to be remorseful when passing the sentence because I have pleaded guilty to the offence and have showed remorse. I am a first offender and plead with court to give me a chance to go back to school and upgrade my studies and fulfill my dreams of becoming a pharmacy technician,” Dithebe said.

Before he could finish his mitigation however, Ncube asked if Dithebe did not have previous convictions and Keorapetse Seleke, representing the state said he (Dithebe) had once been given a suspended sentence for a similar offense in November last year.

“There are no records of his previous convictions but last year November he appeared before court for a similar offence and he was given a suspended sentence,” Seleke said.

Asked if he was aware of the offence that Seleke was talking about and what it was all about, Dithebe conceded and added that the offence was similar to the case he was mitigating for.

Magistrate Ncube instructed Dithebe to submit a copy of his written mitigation so that she could read it at her leisure, before passing sentence later.

“It appears that your written mitigation is too long. How about you submit a copy so that I can read it, file it and on a later date pass the sentence,” she said.

It was proved in court that Dithebe some time in April stole the phone from a Metropolitan Life insurance sales consultant, Koziba Mpedi. Dithebe forged a Princess Marina Hospital doctor’s identity card and placed his picture, with the names of Dr Karabo Jackson.

Dithebe lured Mpedi to Princess Marina claiming that he was going to sign up for a policy, before fleeing with his phone after asking to use it to call.

More cases are reportedly being registered with the police involving Dithebe and similar alleged thefts.