A 21-year-old man, who was one of a gang of three that was arrested following a robbery, was sentenced to seven years imprisonment on 11 January in the Johannesburg Magistrates’ Court for possession of an unlicensed firearm.
Yeoville police spokesperson, Captain Sifiso Mabizela said Henry Sibanda was arrested on 7 December by constables Ntokozo Mbhele and Victor Mugeri.
When Mbhele and Mugeri arrived at the robbery scene, Sibanda was carrying a gun and was surrounded by a mob. “His two assailants fled the scene but were later arrested,” said Mabizela.
Although Sibanda was found guilty and sentenced for the unlicensed firearm, his accomplices, who were not found at the scene and could not be linked to the gun, beat the robbery rap because the complainant decided to withdraw the case at a later stage.
“The complainant decided to forgive the perpetrators and made a withdrawal statement, so [two of the accused] walked free from charges of robbery with aggravating circumstances.”
Mabizela said police had put in a lot of hard work to make the arrests, and it was disappointing when complainants withdrew cases. “The community must understand that withdrawing cases is not helping the police. You will find the same perpetrators out there committing the same crime again,” he said.
“We hope, as we start the new journey [into] 2017, that the community will support our efforts in combating crime [by] reporting crime and having faith in our judicial system.”
Yeoville Police Station made 41 arrests from 11 to 16 January, with seven convictions thus far.
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