Habitual thief caged 19 years

A habitual house breaker has been slapped with a combined 230 months jail term over eight cases in which he stole an assortment of goods worth
$3 000.

Tinashe Panashe Mutingwende, 37, who is of no fixed abode, was convicted on all eight charges after a full trial by magistrate Lazarus Murendo.

He will, however, serve an effective 187 months’ jail stint after 12 months were suspended on condition of good behaviour and 31 on condition he restitutes the items that could not be recovered.

Mutingwende was convicted of unlawful entry into premises as defined in section 131(1) (a) as read with section 131(2) (e) of the Criminal Law Codification and Reform Act chapter 9:23.

The cases came in four different dockets — two had three cases each and the other two one each.

The sentences were given individually to each of the eight charges with the least attracting a 10-month jail term and the most getting 48 months.

He committed the break-ins in areas ranging from the rural Rowa community, high density residential areas like Gimboki to low density suburbs of Darlington and Fairbridge Park.

He would steal everything from mince meat, groceries, shoes and other clothing, handbags, blankets, curtains to electronic gadgets ranging from cell phones to television sets among others.

Most of the property was recovered from people he had sold them to.

Chris Munyuku was prosecuting. Daily News.