ODZI — A beer brawl involving two drinking mates in Odzi reportedly ended tragically after one was fatally stabbed with a broken beer bottle by the friend.
The culprit, Phebion Sabadzwa, was sentenced to six years in jail yesterday following his conviction for culpable homicide by High Court judge Justice Joseph Musakwa.
However, he will serve an effective five-year term after one year was suspended on condition of good behaviour.
The court heard sometime in October last year, Sabadzwa and Godfrey Chanaiwa were drinking at Chikomo Bottle Store at Jechera Business Centre in Odzi when they had an altercation. Chanaiwa is said to have made offensive remarks which angered Sabadzwa, leading to a fight.
Sabadzwa took a broken soft drink bottle and charged towards Chanaiwa. Fellow revellers managed to disarm him as Chanaiwa fled to safety. Moments later, Chanaiwa got back to the bottle store, but Sabadzwa chased him away and then attacked him using a broken beer bottle.
Chanaiwa’s body was discovered the following morning along a footpath 40 metres away from the bottle store where the two had fought.
Lacerations on the face and neck were observed on the body and a postmortem revealed he died due to severe haemorrhage. Initially, the State preferred a murder charge, but later changed it to culpable homicide.
