A MAN from Bulawayo has been sentenced to five months in jail for stealing groceries twice from a city supermarket using an expired receipt.
James Mwayedza (35) waltzed past the security personnel at Food 4 Less supermarket with groceries he had not paid for.
The State proved that he bought groceries worth about $20 which he left at a parcel bay at the supermarket.
Mwayedza then went back into the supermarket and collected similar grocery items printed on the receipt.
The court heard how he used the same receipt to go past security and leave the groceries at the parcel counter again.
It was not “third time lucky” for him after a security guard caught him when he tried the same trick a third time.
Mwayedza pleaded guilty to theft before Bulawayo magistrate Adelaide Mbeure.
The magistrate sentenced him to five months in prison and suspended three months on condition that he does not repeat a similar crime in the next three years. He was ordered to complete 70 hours community service for the remaining two months.
For the State, Maclean Ndlovu said on May 28, Mwayedza bought groceries worth $20,41 from the supermarket and went away.
“He bought three by two litres pure drop cooking oil, one kilogramme Cremora, two kilogrammes rice, Geisha soap and a carrier bag. He paid for the products and was given a receipt,” he said.
“After some time, he came back, entered the shop and took the same products he had previously bought. He used the previous receipt and pretended that he had paid for the products. He went past the security guard unnoticed.
“Mwayedza left the groceries at the parcel counter and came back again for the second time to the shop and he took the same goods from the shelves. He used the same receipt pretending as if he had paid for the products.”
He was stopped at the exit by the security guard and it was discovered that he was using an old receipt. The stolen products were recovered along those he had left at the parcel counter and they were valued at $40,82.
