Men jailed for acid killing of Australian

Men jailed for acid killing of Australian

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By Staff Reporter

THREE Zimbabweans men who kidnapped an Australian accountant of a British-based tea company and force-fed him a fatal dose of acid have each been sentenced to 40 years in jail, it was reported Thursday.

Philip Laing was killed in December 2003 after he and eight other employees of Eastern Highlands Tea Plantations were kidnapped at gunpoint from their offices in Honde Valley in eastern Manicaland province.

They were held hostage in a bushy area for over six hours, driven away in a company car, severely assaulted and forced to drink acid. Laing died as a result of the attack.

Justice Rita Makarau convicted former Zimbabwe National Army lance corporal Gift Munetsi and brothers Stanslous and Custom Tsatsa of culpable homicide, robbery, kidnapping and administering a noxious substance.

The judge said the prosecution had failed to prove murder charges.

'We however hesitate to find that the death of the deceased was actually intended,' Makarau said.

One of the witnesses said the men had approached her looking for chloroform, which she did not have.
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