Nkayi man axes neighbour at beer drink

News
A Nkayi man struck a neighbour thrice on the head with an axe during a beer-fuelled dispute.

A Nkayi man struck a neighbour thrice on the head with an axe during a beer-fuelled dispute.

BY SILAS NKALA

Mamukeli Ncube (29) of Gwelutshena was on Wednesday jailed for four years by Bulawayo magistrate Mark Dzira for the vicious attack on Robious Sibanda.

Prosecutor Tinashe Dzipe had told the court that on December 26 2014 at 6am Sibanda (36) and Ncube were drinkining beer at John Gwizi’s homestead.

Sibanda instructed his younger brother Nkosilamandla to go and look for oxen so they could go and plough the fields.

This angered Nube who asked him why he was giving instructions to Nkosilamandla.

Ncube struck Sibanda thrice on the head during the dispute and the victim sustained injuries on the scalp. This led to Ncube’s arrest.

Dzira initially sentenced him to six years in jail, but suspended two years on condition of good behaviour.

The magistrate said he considered that Ncube was a first offender and that he was a family man.

However, Dzira said the fact that he attacked his victim on the head, which meant he could suffer from mental problems or even death, necessitated a stiff sentence.

“The complainant suffered injuries on the head which might lead to his brains not functioning properly,” he said.

“Cases of people attacking others with knives, axes and other dangerous objects are on the increase.

“People are not encouraged to solve disputes through violence, it is important that people talk over issues.

”Violence does not solve problems and when you use violence you cause more problems such as the one we have here today.”

Dzira said he took Ncube’s plea of guilty as a sign of contrition and if it was not for that he would have been sentenced to 10 years behind bars.