Two $74 knife-wielding robbers gets 3-year jail term, one denies charge

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TWO of the three-member robbery gang which pounced on a fuel station in Hwange two weeks ago and got away with $74, were yesterday sentenced to an effected three years in jail each, while their alleged accomplice was further remanded to next week after he denied the robbery charge.

TWO of the three-member robbery gang which pounced on a fuel station in Hwange two weeks ago and got away with $74, were yesterday sentenced to an effected three years in jail each, while their alleged accomplice was further remanded to next week after he denied the robbery charge.

BY SILAS NKALA

Narani Mathe (35) and Mandlenkosi Mhlanga (33) were both convicted and sentenced on their own pleas when they appeared before Hwange magistrate Portia Mhlanga.

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Their alleged accomplice, Zimowa Newton Mzimukulu (32) of Cornall Road, Hwange, however, denied any links to the crime and was further remanded in custody for trial on September 4.

The mask-wearing gang allegedly stormed the service station on August 17 and terrorised the attendants and guards before robbing them of $182.

However, the suspects dropped $112 from their loot as they fled the scene with security guards and members of the public in hot pursuit.

Mzimukulu was later apprehended and in turn implicated Mathe and Mhlanga, leading to their arrest and recovery of a kitchen knife, woolen mask hat and a pair of cotton gloves used in the commission of the crime.