Carjacker to serve 3 years in prison

A GOKWE man has been jailed for three years for carjacking and threatening to kill his unsuspecting victim with an axe.

Norman Ndhlovu (23) had pleaded not guilty to the charge of robbery when he appeared before Gokwe magistrate Mr Musaiwone Shortgame.

But he was convicted after a fully contested trial.

Mr Shortgame slapped Ndhlovu with a four-year prison sentence but suspended one year on condition of good behaviour.

Appearing for the State, Ms Getrude Shoko proved that Ndhlovu robbed Mr Godfrey Chomupapa of a car belonging to his employer, Mr Iden Chiketa.

She proved that on the evening of January 10, Ndhlovu phoned Mr Chiketa requesting to hire his vehicle from Mapfungautsi in Gokwe to Muchakata Business Centre in the same area.

Mr Chiketa instructed Chomupapa to go to Mapfungautsi and pick Ndhlovu using a Subaru Impreza. Chomupapa complied and picked Ndhlovu and drove him towards Muchakata Business Centre.

After driving for about 10km along the Gokwe-Kwekwe Road, Ndhlovu asked Chomupapa to turn left into a gravel road and drove towards Muchakata Business Centre.

After driving about 1km along the gravel road, Ndhlovu requested Chomupapa to stop on the pretext that he wanted to relieve himself.

Both men disembarked from the vehicle. While outside the vehicle, Ndlovu accosted Chomupapa with a small axe, charging towards him. Chomupapa ran away for dear life, with Ndhlovu in hot pursuit, pelting him with stones.