Harare — A DARING Gutu armed robber and confidence trickster who specialised in sleeping over at his victims’ homesteads before robbing them of valuables was sentenced to 10 years behind bars for his nightly escapades that included robbing a fellow villager of 500 grammes of mbanje at gunpoint.
Masvingo magistrate Mrs Esther Muremba sentenced Amon Maridzambira (30) of Gava Village under Chief Makore to 10 years in prison after finding him guilty of the charges levelled against him. She, however, suspended two years of the sentence on condition of good behaviour.
Maridzambira was found guilty of 13 counts of theft and two cases of armed robbery – all committed between March 21, 2009 and February 14 this year. In the mbanje case, it was proved that on March 29 last year, Maridzambira went to Alice Machengete’s homestead in his village at around midnight and posed as a detective from the CID while armed with a .303 rifle.
Maridzambira ordered the woman to open the door to her bedroom hut and when she tried to resist, he fired one shot into the air. Machengete then opened the door whereupon Maridzambira ordered her to surrender the marijuana that she had. She gave him about half a kilogramme of the drug that was stored in a jar after which Maridzambira left.
On other charges, on March 21, Maridzambira went to Phillip Ruzvidzo’s house at Stand Number 387 in Athlone, Gutu, where he lied that he was a relative of the complainant and wanted accommodation for the night. Maridzambira had a .22 rifle. He managed to convince Ruzvidzo to let him sleep over, but during the night he broke into a gun cabinet in the house and stole the .303 rifle that he subsequently used in other crimes.
The rifle had six rounds of ammunition at the time of the theft. Maridzambira left the house early in the morning before his hosts were up. The following day, he went to another house in Gutu where he gave his name as Crush Muupfu and convinced the house owner that he was a relative who had come to visit.
After getting accommodation for the night, he woke up while everyone else was still asleep and stole shoes, jeans and a T-shirt. However, the owner of the house was awakened by the noise and caught him in the act. When he tried to apprehend him, Maridzambira fired one shot from the .303 rifle and fled from the homestead.
He employed the same trick over and over again, getting away with various goods in Gutu and Masvingo City. Maridzambira’s luck ran out when members of the public, on hearing that he was on the police wanted list, teamed up last Sunday and cornered him in Gutu. They disarmed and handed him over to the police.
Senior regional prosecutor Miss Tinayeishe Matenga appeared for the State. The Herald
