Man sentenced to 14 years for Northmead stabbing

A 28-year-old man was sentenced to 14 years imprisonment in the Benoni Regional Court for robbery with aggravating circumstances.

The accused remains in custody (Stock image).

On April 12, Christopher Matau stabbed and robbed a woman of her cellphone on Second Avenue, Northmead.

The Benoni SAPS spokesperson, Capt Nomsa Sekele, said the victim was on her way from the Greater Benoni Child Welfare when she was approached by two men, Matau and an unknown man.

“Both suspects took out knives and threatened her to cooperate or else she would be stabbed,” said Sekele.

“One perpetrator ordered her to empty her bag, while the other one forcefully grabbed her cellphone from her hand.”

Sekele added that as one of the men was searching her bag, she panicked and screamed for help.

The two men took her cellphone worth R1 900 and fled the scene.

A woman that heard the screams called a security company.

The officer followed the men and managed to arrest Matau, but the accomplice escaped.

The Benoni SAPS station commander, Brig Johan Jacobs, commended the security officer and the members of the SAPS for a job well done.