Kombi driver jailed for kidnapping female traffic cop

A KOMBI driver who kidnapped and brutally assaulted a female traffic cop was told by a magistrate that he had his four-year-old daughter to thank as he was jailed for three years yesterday.

Coward Timothy Kudyamusuma (26) refused to be arrested by brave Constable Dorothy Shoko (25), and took her on a terrifying journey across three Bulawayo suburbs before leaving her in a ditch bleeding from the head.

Kudyamusuma cut a pathetic figure in the dock at the West Commonage Magistrates' Court in Bulawayo as he pleaded for mercy, telling magistrate Willard Maphios Moyo that his wife had left him for South Africa, leaving their four-year-old daughter in his care.

As he sent him away for three years, the magistrate told him: "You're lucky that I considered all that you said, that you are a single parent who has to take care of your four-year-old daughter.

Despite these considerations, you are facing two serious offences. The first charge of kidnapping attracts a sentence of life imprisonment, while that of assaulting and resisting a police officer attracts a maximum sentence of 10 years."

Moyo said in aggravation, Kudyamusuma deliberately kidnapped a police officer on duty and removed her from her area of operation.
Police were protected by the law, the magistrate added. "Police officers whether male or female need to execute their duties without fear. They should also be protected from people like you as society does not tolerate such incidents," the magistrate said.

"Therefore, a deterrent custodial sentence is called for."
Kudyamusuma, of Nkulumane 12, had a year of his original four-year sentence conditionally suspended.
The court heard that on 12 October this year, Const Shoko was on patrol in the company of other traffic officers shortly after 12pm when they observed Kudyamusuma loading passengers from an undesignated area in an unregistered vehicle in Nketa 6.

Tatenda Dakwa, for the prosecution, said Const Shoko jumped into the kombi, and advised Kudyamusuma that he was under arrest. She ordered him to drive to Tshabalala Police Station.

But Kudyamusuma instead drove through Nkulumane and stopped at Rangemore Business Centre where he demanded to see Const Shoko's police ID card.

The court was told that when she showed him the document, Kudyamusuma grabbed it and held onto it. He also snatched the police officer's mobile phone and switched it off as she desperately tried to call colleagues for help.

Dakwa said Kudyamusuma kept telling Const Shoko that "police officers are spoilt."
"You think that people buy cars for you to get free rides? I want to teach you a lesson which you will relate to your colleagues," he told her, according to the prosecution.

As the volley of verbal abuse continued, the court heard how Kudyamusuma then drove to a wooded area near Bambi Lodge in Rangemore where he parked and violently fished the police officer out of the vehicle.

He kicked her in the forehead and punched her in the face several times until she lost consciousness.
Kudyamusuma then dumped her in a ditch and sped off, leaving her half dead.

Const Shoko, who sustained a deep cut on her forehead and bruises in the hands as a result of the assault, later regained consciousness and staggered to the nearby Rangemore Primary School where she alerted the school head who called the   police.

Kudyamusuma claimed in his defence that Const Shoko had failed to identify herself.