HARARE - An accountant who robbed a car at knifepoint, before he was nabbed while ferrying passengers in Chitungwiza, has been jailed for eight years by Harare regional magistrate Aidonia Masawi.
The 27-year-old Stephen Runyararo Nyapokoto pleaded guilty to robbing Lloyd Paza of his Toyota Fun Cargo.
His sentence was reduced to five years, after Masawi suspended three years on condition Nyapokoto does not commit a similar offence in the next five years.
Prosecutor Liberty Gono, said as a university graduate, Nyapokoto was a lazy person who should not have resorted to robbery as a source of making money. Masawi conceded with Gono and said Nyapokoto should learn to fend for himself as an able-bodied person.
He rubbished Nyapokoto’s claims that he only wanted to use the vehicle and bring it back, adding that no reasonable person would believe his averments.
The court heard that Nyapokoto went to Manresa Shops in Mabvuku, armed with a kitchen knife.
He approached Paza who was parked by the shops, and was using his vehicle as a taxi.
He lied that he wanted to be ferried to Silveira House, in Mabvuku, where he claimed he wanted to pick his sick mother.
According to state papers, Nyapokoto got into the car and occupied the front passenger seat. The court heard that as Paza drove towards Silveira House, Nyapokoto produced a knife and threatened to stab Paza, before ordering him to stop the car.
Nyapokoto went on to force Paza to drive the vehicle along a gravel road branching to the left. He asked Paza to stop the car, before pulling him out.
According to state papers, he ordered him to lie on the ground facing downwards and tied his hands on the back using a string, before driving off.
Paza, according to state papers, managed to untie himself and went to Lafarge Cement Company, where he got assistance to contact the owner of the vehicle.
The vehicle was recovered through a tracking system.