Africa-Press – Zimbabwe. TWO Chinhoyi stock thieves, who had terrorised farmers stealing cattle and goats, have been sentenced to nine years in jail each by the High Court.
Reason Chimanja and Feliz Faron Chango stole a cow and a calf from Fordson Sosa at Plot 24, Emily Park grazing lands, Chinhoyi. The stolen stock was valued at US$450.
They also stole two oxen from Shavayemombe Sijanapi of Plot 32, Muni Farm, Chinhoyi, which they sold to Asan Garatiya for US$800.
On August 4, they stole a goat from Virginia Mahwanda of Plot 19, Temperly Farm, Chinhoyi, and the goat was recovered, slaughtered. It was valued at US$25.
The pair was initially jailed for 11 years each, with the magistrate suspending three years on condition of good behaviour.
However, on review by the High Court, Justices Philda Muzofa and Rogers Manyangadze ruled that the trial court misdirected itself on two issues, saying it was wrong to bundle the offences that attract a minimum mandatory sentence as one.
Secondly, the judges ruled the trial court had erred in treating a goat as a bovine or equine, which attracts a minimum mandatory sentence.
Section 114 of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act [Chapter 9:23] provides a mandatory minimum sentence of 9 years imprisonment for stock theft unless there are special circumstances.
The judges said the magistrate should have treated each count of stock theft as a separate offence.
In this case, the accused were convicted of three separate counts of stock theft, each with its own complainant.
The judges argued that the magistrate should have passed a separate sentence for each count, as the legislation intended for a mandatory penalty of nine years to apply to each instance of stock theft.
The judges said there were no special circumstances found that would justify a deviation from the mandatory minimum sentence in this case, saying the trial court should have imposed the minimum mandatory sentence in counts 1 and 2 separately.
On the second misdirection, the judges said a goat is not a bovine or an equine to attract a minimum mandatory sentence or to be bundled together with offences that attract mandatory sentence.
A bovine animal refers to cattle, buffalo, bison and other members of the subfamily and are characterised by their hollow horns and cloven hooves.
An equine animal is any member of the horse family, including horses, donkeys and zebras. The judges said the trial court was supposed to be guided by subsection (f) of s114 of the Criminal Code.
The judges said when dealing with multiple counts, the trial court is at large to make an order to meet the justice of the case based on the circumstances.
Justices Muzofa and Manyangadze then set aside the sentence imposed by the magistrate and substituted it with nine years for a count on Sosa’s cattle, and another nine years for two oxen that belonged to Sijanapi and six months imprisonment wholly suspended for Mahwanda’s goat.
However, the duo will serve two nine-year imprisonment sentences, which will run concurrently, meaning they will serve nine years in jail.
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