Evidence before the Francistown magistrates court showed
that on March 23 this year Abraham Mahlani destroyed burglar bars and padlocks
to gain entry into a house belonging to Thandeka Letsholo and Botho Amantle
Mokgatle in Francistown’s Maipaafela location.
It is the State case that Mahlani (39) then stole several
items, which included a television set, laptop, All-Star shoes, groceries,
fridge, microwave, toiletries and a cooking gas cylinder, all valued at P11
335.
The matter was reported to Tatitown police the following
day, leading to the arrest of Mahlani.
In mitigation, Mahlani pleaded with the court for leniency,
explaining that he wanted to raise money to apply for a driver’s licence.
Instead, the court slapped him with a custodial sentence.
“You are sentenced to four years in prison for burglary and
three years for theft. The two sentences are to run concurrently and the
sentence is backdated to March 29 when you were incarcerated. Properties stolen
will be returned to the owners,” the court ruled.
Another Zimbabwean man, Johane Muwirimi (30) was also
arrested for transporting the goods stolen by Mahlani in his Honda Fit.
Muwirimi was, however, exonerated after he told the police
that he was not aware that the goods had been stolen.
Muwirimi, however, failed to produce travelling documents
when asked to do so, leading to him being charged with a single count of
entering the country illegally.
He was then ordered to pay P1 500 for being in Botswana
unlawfully, failure which he would be jailed for six months. Newsday
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