A 27-YEAR-OLD Marondera man will rue the day he decided to steal live electric copper cables after he was sentenced to an effective 10-year jail term for theft, in addition to losing his arm while committing the offence.
Signal Kolowa, of Rakata village under Chief Svosve in Marondera, who had his right arm amputated after suffering severe electric shock, pleaded guilty before provincial magistrate Milton Serima yesterday. He implicated his alleged accomplice, Joram Jowa (37), who yesterday denied the charges of stealing electric cables. Jowa was remanded in custody to October 10 for continuation of trial.
According to court papers, on August 24 this year at around 8:30pm, Jowa allegedly connived with Kolowa and proceeded to Chiparahwe Farm armed with a wheel spanner, shifting spanner and a pair of pliers.
The accused persons then cut down the 11KVA electric copper line that supplies electricity to the farm using the pliers. During the process, Kolowa, who was cutting, suffered severe electric shock, resulting in Jowa fleeing the scene thinking that his accomplice had died.
The matter was reported to the police after Kolowa had gone to Chiparahwe Clinic seeking treatment.
Investigations by the police led to the arrest of Kolowa, who implicated Jowa. Police recovered 150m of copper cables, the shifting spanner, the pair of pliers and wheel spanner at the scene of the crime. Kolowa was then taken to Chitungwiza Central Hospital, where he had his hand amputated due to the seriousness of the injuries he sustained.
The value of the cut cables was $900 and all were recovered. Courage Chakawa represented the State.-Newsday
