Harare, (New Ziana) – A serial housebreaker who terrorized Hwange residents specializing in stealing smart phones has been jailed for an effective 32 months and ordered to restitute ZiG33 277 to 17 victims.

According to the National Prosecution Authority of Zimbabwe (NPAZ), Future Ncube (25) of Makwika village in the coal mining town pleaded guilty to 31 counts of aggravated unlawful entry before a Hwange magistrates’ court.

He was sentenced to 48 months imprisonment but the court suspended 22 months of the prison term on condition he restitutes ZiG33 277 to 17 of his victims.

The court then ordered that six months that were suspended on a separate case for which he was convicted earlier, be brought into effect.

On an unknown date sometime last month, Ncube stole an Itel P37 cell phone from the complainant who had placed it inside his bedroom before retiring to bed.

Ncube came during the night while the complainant was asleep and fished the smartphone out through a broken window and walked away unnoticed.

The complainant made a police report the following morning. It was then discovered that Ncube had broken into 31 other houses in Makwika village, Hwange targeting cell phones, between December 2023 and the time of his arrest on May 24 at Lubangwe Business Centre, after police selling stolen cell phones.

New Ziana