News / Local
Man attempts suicide in court
10 Jul 2015 at 08:40hrs | Views
A ROBBERY and rape suspect attempted to commit suicide in court yesterday after accusing the magistrate of being biased against him.
Prince Banda, 24, of no fixed abode, went berserk during his trial and threw himself onto the floor, banging his head against the iron bars in the dock.
He kept shouting he would bang his head on the bars until he died.
Banda cracked under cross examination by Tinashe Dzipe, the prosecutor.
He suddenly lost it and refused to answer questions.
Banda went on to accuse senior regional magistrate Mark Dzira of discrimination saying: "I don't care what happens, I won't answer that question, just sentence me.
"This court is not fair, I just want to die."
Prison officers tried to restrain him from banging his head until magistrate Dzira ordered them to leave him to calm down.
"I don't see where your anger is emanating from, you must just respond to the question you were asked and we move on with the matter," said magistrate Dzira, talking to deaf ears.
Banda continued shouting at the magistrate until the court was adjourned.
"You'll come back tomorrow for judgment," said magistrate Dzira about an hour later.
Banda pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery and dismissed rape allegations saying his two accomplices who are on the run had raped a woman whom they robbed of cash and gadgets.
The woman testified and told magistrate Dzira that Banda and his two friends attacked her and her boyfriend last year in May.
"Banda was the ring leader and after robbing us they led me to a bushy area. I was raped by one of his friends," said the woman.
Banda was quick to object to the woman's testimony saying: "I was only interested in money that day, not sex!"
Dzipe said on May 21 at around 3.30PM near Norwood Farm, Banda and his accomplices stood in the road as the woman - who cannot be named to protect her identity - and her boyfriend were driving from Nyamandlovu.
"As the woman's boyfriend tried to manoeuvre around the men with the vehicle, one of the men smashed the windscreen and asked them to get out the vehicle," said Dzipe.
"They robbed the couple of $40, sneakers, a laptop, his clothes and cellphones."
Dzipe said the trio also pounced on a man from St Peters who was cycling whom they hit with a log on July 3.
"He fell and they frisked him and took away his cellphone, identity card, clothes, a wallet and 2kg sugar. The men also took his bicycle and fled from the scene," said Dzipe.
On August 21 at around 1PM at a Bushy area in Cowdray Park, the trio met a man walking home.
The prosecutor said: "They forced him to surrender his property and he resisted.
"Two of the men struck him with an axe handle and robbed him of property valued at $270.
"Banda was identified at a police identification parade and his accomplices are still at large."
Prince Banda, 24, of no fixed abode, went berserk during his trial and threw himself onto the floor, banging his head against the iron bars in the dock.
He kept shouting he would bang his head on the bars until he died.
Banda cracked under cross examination by Tinashe Dzipe, the prosecutor.
He suddenly lost it and refused to answer questions.
Banda went on to accuse senior regional magistrate Mark Dzira of discrimination saying: "I don't care what happens, I won't answer that question, just sentence me.
"This court is not fair, I just want to die."
Prison officers tried to restrain him from banging his head until magistrate Dzira ordered them to leave him to calm down.
"I don't see where your anger is emanating from, you must just respond to the question you were asked and we move on with the matter," said magistrate Dzira, talking to deaf ears.
Banda continued shouting at the magistrate until the court was adjourned.
"You'll come back tomorrow for judgment," said magistrate Dzira about an hour later.
Banda pleaded guilty to five counts of robbery and dismissed rape allegations saying his two accomplices who are on the run had raped a woman whom they robbed of cash and gadgets.
The woman testified and told magistrate Dzira that Banda and his two friends attacked her and her boyfriend last year in May.
"Banda was the ring leader and after robbing us they led me to a bushy area. I was raped by one of his friends," said the woman.
Banda was quick to object to the woman's testimony saying: "I was only interested in money that day, not sex!"
Dzipe said on May 21 at around 3.30PM near Norwood Farm, Banda and his accomplices stood in the road as the woman - who cannot be named to protect her identity - and her boyfriend were driving from Nyamandlovu.
"As the woman's boyfriend tried to manoeuvre around the men with the vehicle, one of the men smashed the windscreen and asked them to get out the vehicle," said Dzipe.
"They robbed the couple of $40, sneakers, a laptop, his clothes and cellphones."
Dzipe said the trio also pounced on a man from St Peters who was cycling whom they hit with a log on July 3.
"He fell and they frisked him and took away his cellphone, identity card, clothes, a wallet and 2kg sugar. The men also took his bicycle and fled from the scene," said Dzipe.
On August 21 at around 1PM at a Bushy area in Cowdray Park, the trio met a man walking home.
The prosecutor said: "They forced him to surrender his property and he resisted.
"Two of the men struck him with an axe handle and robbed him of property valued at $270.
"Banda was identified at a police identification parade and his accomplices are still at large."
Source - chronicle
