Marvelous Moyo Gwanda Correspondent
A FILABUSI man who robbed a shop armed with an AK47 will serve an effective six years in jail for armed robbery.
Gwanda regional magistrate Joseph Mabeza yesterday convicted Judge Sibanda, 20, of Theleka area under Chief Ndube on his own plea of guilty.
Sibanda told the court that he stole the firearm from under his father’s bed, stashed it in a sack which he hid inside a big jacket and went away without being noticed.
Sibanda said he covered his face as he committed the robbery, so that he could not be easily identified.
Mabeza sentenced him to nine years imprisonment for armed robbery but he will serve an effective six years after the magistrate suspended three years for five years on condition of good behaviour.
For possessing a firearm without a licence, Mabeza fined Sibanda $100 or a month in prison.
The court heard that on October 7 this year, Sibanda pounced on a Filabusi shop, Cover Hardware at Mahole business centre, armed with an AK47 in broad daylight and tried to take off with a till that contained $135.
The shop was being manned by a female shopkeeper who screamed, alerting other villagers after Sibanda had robbed the shop.
Sibanda tried to run away but the villagers chased after him and in effort to escape the mob, he tried to shoot, but the gun jammed.
Villagers disarmed him and locked him in one of the shops at the business centre before handing him over to the police who then arrested him.
Johannes Tlou prosecuted.
Meanwhile, Sibanda’s father, Levy, 47, was last week also convicted on his own plea of guilty for possessing a gun without a licence, after he said he was the owner of the AK47 gun that his son used to rob the hardware shop.
Levy was fined $500 or six months imprisonment for unlawfully possessing the firearm, which he said had found underground while conducting some mining activities.
He said he took the gun and kept it at his homestead for close to a year.
The AK-47 assault rifle had a loaded magazine with 18 live rounds.