A 24-year-old man from Binga’s Manjolo area was on Wednesday sentenced to an effective 30-month jail term for striking a colleague with an adze following a dispute over a cigarette.
Report by Staff Reporter
Hidden Mudimba pleaded guilty to assault when he appeared before Binga resident magistrate Stephen Ndlovu.
He was initially sentenced to 36 months in jail before six months were suspended on condition of good behaviour.
State counsel Bruce Maphosa told the court that on October 1 this year, Mudimba was drinking beer with the complainant, Ian Muleya, at Fairness Muleya’s homestead.
A quarrel broke out after Mudimba refused to share his cigarette with Muleya.
It is understood that during the row, Mudimba picked up an adze and struck Muleya once on the head, inflicting a deep cut on him. The matter was reported to police, leading to Mudimba’s arrest.
When sentencing him, Magistrate Ndlovu said: “We cannot allow a person like you to remain in society. You are a threat to other people’s lives. How can you attack a person with such a weapon on the head? You have to be given a custodial sentence.”
