HARARE – Habitual criminal Musa Taj Abdul and two accomplices were jailed 52 years each on Friday following their conviction on 13 counts of armed robbery by Harare magistrate Ignatius Mhene.
Abdul, Charles Lundu and Sean Andile Dhlamini were convicted in December last year and had been awaiting sentencing while the state checked their criminal history.
Until their arrest, the trio had been on the police wanted list for 20 years.
Mhene said the trio were unrepentant criminals who already have other convictions.
They will serve 38 years effective each after part of their sentence was conditionally suspended.
The three men all entered not guilty pleas.
The court heard that on July 24, 2020, the three pounced at a house on Longford Street, Queensdale, in Harare while armed with a shotgun, pistols, a hammer and iron bar.
They demanded cash from victim Leonard Wilson and left with US$1,656, five phones, jewellery, perfumes, a laptop, sunglasses, a PlayStation and a passport.
The court further heard that after robbing Wilson, the trio used the same modus operandi to steal property worth a total of US$3,475 from 12 other individuals.
Lundu and Abdul are currently serving a four-year prison sentence after they were found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Kelvin Munyimi prosecuted.
