Francistown Principal Magistrate Peggy Madandume on Friday sentenced a 27-year-old lad of Tati Siding Village to five years in jail for vehicle theft.
Between the 1st of January and the 3rd of January in 2009 Lesego Phagenyane, the accused, stole a Ford Meteor belonging to a certain Munyaradzi Mutandwa of Francistown. The incident took place at Select Filling Station in Francistown, whereby the complainant on realizing that his car was missing, reported the matter to the police and the accused man was then apprehended.
Phagenyane has other previous convictions, which include malicious damage to property, receipt of stolen property and common nuisance.
Handing down the sentence, Madandume pointed out that she took into consideration that the accused had prayed for a minimum sentence, but stressed that stealing a motor vehicle was a serious crime.
She further indicated that she did not base her sentence on the previous convictions but looked at the seriousness of the crime.
