PHONE THIEF GETS 10 YEARS

A 29-year-old man was given a harsh reminder not to take things that don’t belong to him when Maun Magistrates’ Court sentenced him to 10 years in prison for stealing a cellphone.

Kahurerua Kambe of River Side ward in Maun was found guilty of robbing Bokamoso Setswalo of his Samsung phone, valued at P1,500.

The theft took place on 23rd December, 2018 at Wapula Bar, with Kambe initially gaining possession of the phone on the pretence that he needed to make a call. Once he had the phone, Kambe refused to give it back, brandishing a knife before running away with the stolen mobile.

Outlining the reasoning for the seemingly harsh sentence, Chief Magistrate Thebeetsile Mulalo said, “It is a common cause that the accused took the phone fraudulently and used violence to retain it. Borrowing the phone was a well-calculated move to be given the phone; the accused had no intention of giving it back to the rightful owner!

“There were no extenuating circumstances that could have led the accused to behave in that manner. His side of the story was false beyond reasonable doubt - it was a mere afterthought geared toward misleading the court,” ruled Mulalo during Monday’s sentencing.

Kambe had previously pleaded not guilty to the offence, forcing the prosecution to prove their case, which they did with the testimony of eye-witnesses.

In his defence, Kambe maintained he had been given the phone as a replacement for his own cellphone, which he claimed the complainant had lost.