A 23-year-old man, Bobby Gransten of Eastlea in Harare, will rue his escapades as a taxi robber after he was slapped with a five-year and five-month jail term for robbing two drivers in Chitungwiza last month.
Gransten was again reminded to be a law-abiding citizen after a further seven-month jail term, which had been suspended in another robbery conviction at Mbare Magistrates’ Courts last year, was brought into effect.
However, Chitungwiza provincial magistrate Godfrey Simbarashe Unzemoyo suspended two months from the total sentence on condition Gransten pays restitution to his victims Titus Chirere and Obert Chakoromoka of $50 and $25 respectively.
Gransten will serve an effective five-year and five-month jail term.
Details of the Mbare robbery case were not available in the court papers, but on October 22, this year Gransten, together with his accomplices still at large, hired two taxis from Makoni Shopping Centre on the pretext they wanted to be taken to Chanakira village in Dema.
The first victim on the day, Chirere, was asked to drive to the village and along the way, Gransten and his gang instructed him to stop at some secluded place.
After complying with the instructions, the robbers grabbed him by the neck and Gransten hit him on the head with a metal bar after which they robbed him of $50 and a cellphone.
After robbing Chirere, Gransten and his accomplices returned to Chitungwiza where they used the same modus operandi and robbed Chanakira of $25 and a cellphone.
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The two phones were recovered from Gransten upon his arrest. He pleaded guilty to the two counts of robbery.
