Suspected thief gets drunk on the job
A suspected burglar who treated himself to a bottle of whiskey during a late-night break-in allegedly got so drunk on the job that he forgot where he was and started playing music loudly.
21-year-old Mpho Layi reportedly made so much noise during the robbery that he awoke the owner of the house, who had been fast asleep in his bedroom.
The Thamashaga native was said to be so sloshed he could not flee the scene, paying a painful price for his drunkenness as neighbours seemingly sobered him up with a savage beating.
Sporting several stitches and a badly bruised forehead, the unemployed suspect appeared before Francistown Magistrates’ Court recently where he was charged with two counts: break-in and theft.
It was heard that he broke into one Otswetse Molete’s home in Gerald Estates 33 on 8th August, and gathered up several items, including: two lap-tops, a camera, sneakers, body lotion, deodorant, a radio and a can of Flying Fish beer. In total, the goods were valued at P11,444.
Layi allegedly left the loot by the front door but was unable to resist a celebratory drink when he stumbled upon a bottle of straight whiskey in the kitchen.
With the booze kicking in, the suspected robber turned on the radio and cranked up the volume to dance to some music, inadvertently waking Molete up in the process.
By this point, Layi was said to be so intoxicated his attempts to run away turned into an unsuccessful stumble. He was left to the mercy of other tenants in the yard, who beat him black and blue before alerting the boys in blue.
The cops then took him to hospital, where he was patched up, discharged and then charged.
Securing Layi’s remand, State Prosecutor, Sub-Inspector Kelebone Matsapa, told court he had a similar case of robbery for which he was currently out on bail.
“Your honor, we pray that this court not grant bail to the accused because he does not have a proper place to stay and he is on bail for a similar crime. If set free, we fear he will continue to commit similar crimes,” said Matsapa.
Thus the magistrate was left with little choice but to lock Layi up, sending him to prison on remand until his next court appearance, a status hearing set for this Thursday (1st September).