Man beats up, robs drunk friend

A MAN from Victoria Falls who beat up his friend and robbed him of $20 as they walked from a beer drink thinking he was too drunk to identify him, has been sentenced to nine months in jail.

Herstings Mudenda, (20) of Mkhosana suburb initially blamed the robbery on someone else, but later owned up in court.

On October 13, the accused was drinking with a friend, Mpumelelo Tshuma, in Mkhosana before the latter asked him to accompany him to a house in the suburb.

Mudenda, who assumed his friend was too drunk to identify him, started punching him and took away his wallet.

Tshuma sought help from a security guard who witnessed the incident and they tracked Mudenda down.

Mudenda initially denied having robbed his friend and implicated a neighbour Mr Cryson Ncube claiming he was the one who handed him the wallet for safekeeping. The neighbour was, however, exonerated as all evidence pointed to the accused.

He pleaded guilty to a robbery charge when he appeared before Victoria Falls magistrate Ms Lindiwe Maphosa.

He will, however, serve an effective six months after the magistrate suspended three months for five years on condition of good behaviour.

The magistrate said the court was baffled that Mudenda tried to implicate a person who wasn't anywhere near the crime scene.