Gang severely burnt while stealing petrol

A TSHOLOTSHO gang was severely burnt when they broke into a storeroom with the intention of stealing petrol after using a candle as a source of light.

This emerged last Wednesday when Bekezela Moyo aged 21, appeared before Tsholotsho regional magistrate Toendepi Zhou.

Moyo was facing one count each of unlawful entry, malicious damage to property and theft.

According to the state case as presented by Tawanda Tsadza, on 12 November 2008, Moyo who was in the company of two friends, who are still at large, went to Liness Nyoni's homestead and broke into a hut that was used as a storeroom for petrol.

The accused and the complainant are both neighbours at Ngqoyo village in Tsholotsho.

They then went on to attempt to pour the petrol into five litre containers using a candle as a source of light.

It is during this attempt that the hut caught fire resulting in the accused and his accomplices sustaining burns all over the body and the whole storeroom burning down.

Moyo had to be rushed to Tsholotsho hospital to get treatment while the other two co-accused are believed to have escaped to South Africa.

Passing of sentence was however postponed for five years after the complainant notified the court that she had forgiven Moyo after realising that he had already suffered a lot as a result of the burns and that they had solved the issue amicably considering that they were neighbours.