Three sentenced in Pretoria for housebreaking
All three men had previous convictions for housebreaking and robbery.
Three men were charged with housebreaking and intent to steal valuables worth R30 000 and sentenced at the Pretoria Magistrates court on Friday.
Modesty Rakamone Chauke (39), received a seven-year direct prison sentence, while Thalitha Ngwenya (38), and Nicholas Daniel Mthimunye (41), from Hammanskraal, were sentenced to eight years each.
They were found guilty of breaking into a house on September 30, 2020 in Pierre Van Rynere, Centurion, and stealing two laptops, two televisions, a tablet, jewellery, and a make-up powder holder.
According to court reports, when the complainant was driving into the complex, he noticed Chauke and others exiting the complex, and when he arrived at his house, he realised that a break-in had occurred.
As he was viewing the CCTV footage, he identified Chauke and others in the footage.
After alerting the security guards, they were all caught on the run and handed over to the police by the security guards.
They have been in custody since their arrest after the NPA successfully opposed bail.
During the judgement, it was put on record that Mthimunye, was still on probation on a case of possession of presumably stolen goods and that all three men have previous convictions for housebreaking and robbery.
In aggravation of sentence public prosecutor, Dru Ramsamy, told the court statistics showed that home invasions were prevalent in the country.
“Such crimes as the one committed by the accused violate the constitutional right to dignity and security of the victims.
“Had owners been home when the incident occurred, with these accused’s backgrounds, it’s unlikely that they would have steered away from violence.”
She, therefore, asked the court to send a message that a career in crime does not get rewarded by our justice system.
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