The trial of a Chinese brickmaker, Cheng Yun, and his worker, Benjamin Chamboko, over the death of an employee, Grayson Dhamazio, who was crushed by a brick-moulding machine, resumed at the Harare Magistrates’ Court yesterday.
BY DESMOND CHINGARANDE
Yun, who owns Mazowe Bricks Company, and Chamboko are being charged with culpable homicide after the latter allegedly pressed an electric button setting the machine in motion, culminating in the death of Dhamazio in September last year.
In his defence outline, Chamboko denied intentionally killing his workmate, but told the court he pressed the button after verifying with Dhamazio three times if the button he was about to press was the correct one.
He further told the court that after realising Dhamazio was being crushed, he called for help and a co-worker, Thomas Saulosi, rushed and stopped the machine since he (Chamboko) did not know how to do that.
Yun’s lawyer, Walter Bherebhende, told the court that Dhamazio caused his own death after tasking and allowing Chamboko, who was not a trained person, to operate the machine.
The court heard during the time when Dhamazio instructed Chamboko to press the machine button, he was on his mobile phone.
Regional magistrate Noel Mupeiwa remanded the matter to Wednesday next week for continuation.
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Allegations against the two men are that on September 19 last year and at around 2pm, Dhamazio was maintaining and repairing the brick-moulding mixing machine together with Chamboko after his supervisor, Dong Anmin, assigned him to do so.
It is alleged, at the time of the incident, Dhamazio was sitting with his legs inside the machine, while fixing it, when he then instructed Chamboko to switch it on by pressing button number 3 to check if it had been fixed properly.
The State alleges, in the process, Chamboko switched the wrong button, which was labelled in the Chinese language, resulting in the machine, which Dhamazio was sitting on, starting to function and in the process he was snared by the blades and crushed to death.
Tinashe Makiya appeared for the State.
