Sean Chiname of Chezhira Village, Chief Nyamande, Gutu will
serve an effective three years jail term after Marecha suspended one year on
condition that he will not commit a similar crime, while the other year was
suspended on condition that he restitutes Godfrey Mahuni’s US$9 496 value of
lost property.
State facts as presented by Prosecutor Rachel Murape are
that on April 2, this year at around 2100hours Sean went to Mahuni’s thatched
Gazebo bar club and set it on fire, after which he hid behind a pile of bricks
near the gazebo bar to witness it burning.
Progress Chiname and another patron, one Funny who had came
out of the bar to relieve themselves saw Sean bolting from behind the the brick
pile but did not bother much about him.
After running away, Sean went to Gift Zvenyika who was
welding at Maongera Shop and told him that he had set the bar on fire but the
fire had just been put off. He went on and promised to completely burn the bar
if he manages to get petrol.
At around 2330 hours the same day, Sean went back to the
bar and set it on fire again and the fire engulfed and burnt the thatched bar.
Nyasha Chizororo a neighbor at the bar was awakened by his partner after he had
gone outside to relieve himself and saw the bar burning.
Chizororo then phoned Kudzai Mubaya and told her about the
incident. They all went and awakened Enia Madzuto who was asleep at the gazebo
butchery. They managed to remove some property from inside the bar and tried to
extinguish the fire but all was in vain. The gazebo bar was burnt down to ashes
and nothing was recovered. The value of lost property was US$9 946.
The matter was reported to the police leading to Sean’s
arrest.
Asked why he committed the offense Sean cited that he did
not commit the offense voluntarily but he was not mentally okay and is still
mentally unstable. He was ordered to go for medical examination and the results
showed that he was mentally stable.
Giving it’s judgement the court then said that he committed
the offense knowingly to end the competition since his father also owns a bar
at Chisheche and Mahuni’s bar was upscale. The magistrate also added that a
jail sentence was suitable to send a message to the community and also give
Sean time to reform. TellZimNews
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