4 get 17 years each for robbery in Blantyre
Limbe Magistrate’s Court has sentenced Lajab John, 25, John Mandala, 20, Cedric Salima, 21, and Amos John, 19, to 17 years imprisonment for robbery.
State prosecutor Lloyd Kachotsa told the court that the four committed the offence along Limbe-Machinjiri Road between December 2021 and February 2022.
court proceedings
He said the convicts, armed with pangas, blocked the road with stones before robbing drivers and passengers.
Kachotsa said Limbe Police Station detectives conducted investigations which led to the arrest of the four who were charged with robbery.
He told the court that the convicts assaulted and robbed four people, including journalist Deus Sandram of K Media and Emmanuel Namakangwiyo, an engineer from Kuwala FM Radio and his colleagues.
In court, they pleaded not guilty to the four counts of robbery, but the State paraded 11 witnesses to prove its case.
In mitigation, they prayed for leniency, saying they were first offenders and that they take care of their families.
But senior resident magistrate Byson Masonga dismissed the plea, saying the offences were serious.
He, therefore, sentenced the four to 12 years for the first count, 14 years for the second count, 14 years for the third count and 17 years for the fourth count. The sentences will run concurrently.
