The accused in this matter is a 69-year old man. He was convicted, following his plea of guilty to seven counts of theft i.e. contravening section 113 (1) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) act, [Chapter 9:23]. In a spate of relatively petty thefts during the period stretching from January to April 2022, the accused stole various items (mainly empty drums and portable water tanks) from residential and commercial premises in and around the city of Masvingo. When his pilfering spree screeched to an abrupt end following his arrest, his rather interesting haul consisted of the following: nine empty... More
The accused was arrested and charged together with three accomplices on a charge of murder in contravention of s47 (1) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act. Two of the accused persons were granted bail and they have since absconded.
The trial commenced with two accused persons after a separation of trials. In the course of the trial one of the accused persons, Paul Mungwena died at Chinhoyi Prison. Thus at the end of it all one accused person remains before the court. More
The accused is facing charge of murder as defined in s 47(1)(b) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23]. The allegations are that he assaulted Clint Maziofa and caused his death on 25 August 2017 at Chitambo Garage in Chinhoyi. The accused pleaded not guilty. More
Both the then 32 year old accused and the 73 years old now deceased who are son and father respectively were residents of Mhazo Village, Chief Mazungunye, Bikita. The accused was the eldest surviving child of the now deceased who then had only three surviving children.
Apparently there was a simmering dispute in the family which borders on traditional beliefs and superstition.
The dispute was centred on the allegation that the now deceased had misused some beasts belonging to the accused’s late grandmother. As a result some misfortunes had befallen the family. After consulting some traditional healers it was said... More
It is clear in this matter that the mitigating factors far out weigh the aggravating factors.
The 34-year-old accused was initially arraigned for murder involving the 28-year-old now deceased Severino Mawire. However, both counsel agreed that the proper charge in the circumstances was culpable homicide hence the accused was convicted on his own plea of guilty of the permissible verdict of contravening section 49 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act [Chapter 9:23] which is culpable homicide. More
The accused was convicted on 4 counts of unlawful entry into premises as defined in s 131(1) as read with (2) (e) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23] by the learned trial magistrate sitting at Chivhu Magistrates Court on 9 June 2021. The accused was sentenced on all counts taken as one to 48 months imprisonment with 10 months of that sentence suspended for 5 years on the usual terms of good behaviour. A further 7 months were suspended on conditions of restitution of varying amounts of money to three of the complainants. The effective imprisonment... More
The 27-year-old accused was initially arraigned for murder as defined in section 47(i) of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23]. However, the matter proceeded on the basis of a statement of agreed facts and the accused was convicted of culpable homicide as defined in section 49 of the Criminal Law (Codification and Reform) Act [Chapter 9:23].
Before passing sentence the court also called the now deceased’s mother Ellen Mirirai aged 26 years for her to share her thoughts on the matter. More
