Maravi

Supreme court upholds 20 year jail term for man who stole bicycle

Supreme court upholds 20 year jail term for man who stole bicycle
By Justin Katilungu in Kabwe
Sat 14 Aug. 2010, 04:00 CAT

SUPREME Court judge Lombe Chibesakunda on Wednesday upheld a 20 year-jail term imposed on a 36-year-old Chingola man by the High Court for stealing a bicycle valued at K345,000.

Before justice Chibesakunda, sitting in Kabwe, was Davis Kasakula who on February 19, 2005 in Chingola whilst acting together with unknown people stole a bicycle belonging to Davison Kazela.

He was arrested on March 4, 2005 and taken to court where he was convicted and sentenced to 20 years in prison with hard labour on one count of aggravated robbery contrary to section 294 of the Penal Code chapter 87 of the Laws of Zambia.

Kasakula had appealed the jail term to the Supreme Court on grounds
that the punishment was excessive and that the evidence against him was insufficient.

But justice Chibesakunda upheld the sentence, stressing that her team had carefully considered the record of appeal and the proceedings before the High Court and, therefore, was satisfied with the punishment meted out.

“We are satisfied that the trial judge based his conclusions on the question of credibility of the witnesses before him. He chose to believe the story of the prosecution as opposed to the story of the appellant and because of this, we are satisfied that there was overwhelming evidence against the appellant,” justice Chibesakunda noted.

“We cannot, therefore, fault the learned trial judge’s conclusion when he convicted the appellant on evidence before him and, therefore, we dismiss this appeal as we find no merit in it. We, therefore, confirm the sentence of 20 years imprisonment with labour.”

Labels: LOMBE CHIBESAKUNDA

posted by MrK @ 4:03 AM