By James Muonwa, Mashonaland West Correspondent

A THREE man gang, which violently broke into a house before assaulting its occupants with an iron bar and demanding money, has been sentenced to five years in jail each.

The trio of Norest Gabarinocheka (44) Tryson Madhavha (27), and Terrence Makumbe (21), appeared before Chinhoyi magistrate Ignatius Mugova charged with robbery.

The fourth accused person, Whatmore Chijariri (32), was acquitted.

The state case, led by Rumbidzai Gutu, was that on December 14, 2020, around 2am, the trio acting in cahoots with Oliver Makuwerere and Thomas Mhlanga, who are still at large, went to house number 22092 Pure Gold Housing Cooperative, owned by Ndaizivei Makoni, who is the first complainant, with the intention to rob her.

The second complainant in this case is Linnet Chipundu, a house maid to Makoni.

Upon arrival at the house, they violently broke the entrance door, awakened the occupants and gained entry into the house.

While inside, they proceeded to Makoni’s bedroom where they found the door locked and they broke it using an axe.

The trio laid Makoni on the ground and severely assaulted her with a metal object demanding cash.

They grabbed her purse, took US$10 and further assaulted her demanding more cash.

The gang forced Chipundu to lie on her stomach and demanded car keys, a Techno Spark and KG Itel cellphones.

They tied Makoni’s hands with a tyre cable and took her to Chipundu’s spare bedroom, where they assaulted Chipundu with a catapult on the head demanding information on where Makoni kept large sums of money.

They then took Chipundu’s property.

The trio locked up the two in the spare bedroom, ransacked the whole house and took property.

The gang took the stolen property to their accomplice, Makuwerere, and shared their loot.

They drove Makoni’s vehicle and dumped it near Gadzema Library along the Chinhoyi-Chegutu highway.

Makoni sustained swollen and lacerated left forearm, bruises on the back and right arm.

A report was made to the police.

On January 7, 2021, Madhava and Makumbe were arrested in Gadzema, Chinhoyi in connection with the case and other cases which occurred in Gokwe.

An identification parade was conducted on January 8, 2021, at which Madhava was identified by Makoni and Makumbe by Chipundu.

On February 5, 2021, Chipundu discovered that her Facebook account had been tempered with and was bearing Chijariri’s picture on her Facebook profile.

Investigations were carried out after Chijariri contacted Chipundu, requesting for her Facebook account password.

On February 13, Chijariri was arrested in Kadoma, and led police to the recovery of the cellphone from Wilson Mudzikati of Rimuka Kadoma, to whom he had sold it.

Upon his arrest, Chijariri implicated Gabarinocheka to have sold him the gadget, leading to his arrest.

Makoni positively identified her recovered vehicle while Chipundu identified her cellphone.

The total value of stolen property from Makoni is US$6 295 and US$5 400 was recovered while Chipundu had property valued US$120 and US$80 was recovered.