Daring car thief fails to dodge sentence

THE High Court has dismissed an appeal against conviction by a serial car thief serving a 10 year jail term for sneaking into the Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (Zimra) customs yard in Beitbridge and stealing an unregistered kombi.

The vehicle had just been imported from South Africa.

Tafadzwanashe Chasauka was in April 2011 convicted of theft of a motor vehicle by a Gwanda regional magistrate. He was sentenced to 10 years in jail of which three years were suspended on condition of good behaviour. Dissatisfied with the outcome of the trial, Chasauka lodged an appeal against both conviction and sentence at the Bulawayo High Court.

Chasauka, who was a self-actor, cited the State as the respondent. He teamed up with his brother Mugovewashe to commit the crime.

Mugovewashe was jailed for some time and released, but the years he was sentenced to were not stated in court papers.

In his grounds of appeal, Chasauka said there was misdirection on the part of the magistrate and the sentence induced a sense of shock.

He argued that the State failed to prove its case beyond reasonable doubt saying there was no evidence to sustain his conviction. In his ruling, Justice Martin Makonese said the appeal lacked merit.

In dismissing the application, the judge said he was unable to discern any misdirection or irregularity in the conviction.

“It is abundantly clear that the evidence was simply overwhelming against the appellant and he was left fumbling in the dark for a defence, which was patently false. The sentence is in line with decided cases and there was no misdirection on the part of the trial court. In the result, the conviction is safe and must be upheld and accordingly, the appeal is hereby dismissed in its entirety,” ruled Justice Makonese.

The State, which was being represented by Mr Trust Muduma, opposed the appeal. The circumstances of the matter are that on January 5 in 2010, Tafadzwanashe in the company of Mugovewashe arrived at Beitbridge Border Post in the early morning hours. They spotted an unregistered Toyota Hiace kombi parked at the customs yard near the exit gate. They drove the vehicle and shot past the exit gate. They were however, spotted by security guards who were manning the border area. The security guards pelted stones at the speeding kombi and smashed the windows, but the two brothers did not stop.

The two men were intercepted at a roadblock near Masvingo and on being quizzed by police, they failed to produce the vehicle registration documents. Mugovewashe, who was behind the steering wheel, was arrested. Sensing danger, Tafadzwanashe, pretending to be a passenger who had been offered a lift, asked police to excuse him under the guise that he wanted to relieve himself before he disappeared into the bush—@ mashnets.