Having spent the last five years remanded behind bars waiting for his big moment in court, judgement day finally arrived for a suspected thief last month.
The long wait had an unhappy ending for Kamogelo Mookodi.
Found guilty of a violent robbery that took place in Molepolole on 21 July 2019, in which the accused and another man made off with P10 and a cellphone, last Tuesday Mookodi was sentenced to ten years in the slammer.
It was not all bad news for the 30-year-old, however, with his jail- term backdated to December 2021, when he was first detained.
It means he has effectively served half the sentence already.
It was heard that Mookodi, and a second man, who remains on the run, evading the cops for close to seven years, robbed one Tshepiso Rantsudu of his cash and a Lavender Samsung J4 phone worth P1,400, using violence to retain the properties.
The duo pounced on Rantsudu near a tuckshop in Phuthadikobo ward, where he had gone to buy airtime, dragging him to an unused toilet in an unoccupied yard to search him.
Mookodi reportedly grabbed the victim by the neck, placing a weapon to his waistline.
It is said he threatened to kill the complainant but his companion-in- crime convinced him not to, before they left with their meagre loot, laughing aloud.
After waiting a few minutes, Rantsudu hurried to a nearby bar, narrating his ordeal to patrons.
Listening intently, one of the drinkers, who resides in the same neighbourhood as Mookodi and had seen him leaving the house earlier that night, realised the description matched his neighbour’s appearance.
Rantsudu reported the matter to Molepolole police, who went to question the suspect at his home but he refused to let them in.
Given permission by the accused’s parents to force entry, the cops duly barged their way in, finding the stolen cellphone inside the house and arresting Mookodi.
During mitigation and sentencing, the petty thief pleaded for leniency, noting he has already been locked up for a long time awaiting trial.
“I left my two-year-old child; I don’t even know about his health condition,” revealed the man known as Mangole on the streets, a place he has not wandered in nearly five years!
However, noting their where no extenuating circumstances, Molepolole Principal Magistrate, Solomon Setshedi explained he had no choice but to hand down the minimum sentence of 10 years.
It is a stiff price to pay for P10 and a phone he had for only a few hours!
