HARARE – Notorious armed robber Musa Taj Abdul and accomplices have all been jailed 52 years each following their conviction for 13 counts of the heinous crime by Harare magistrate Ignatius Mhene.
Abdul was convicted together with Charles Lundu and Sean Andile Dlamini in December last year and have been awaiting sentencing.
Until their arrest, the trio had been on the police wanted list for 20 years.
In coming up with their sentence, the magistrate took into consideration that the trio were unrepentant criminals who already have convictions.
They will however serve 38 years effective each after part of their sentence was suspended on conditions of good behaviour.
Abdul and accomplices denied allegations during trial but prosecutors proved that they committed the offences.
The court heard on July 24, 2020, the three pounced at house number 40 Longford Street, Queensdale, Harare while armed with a shotgun, pistols, hammer and iron bar.
They went on to demand cash amounting to US$1,656, a Sony Ericson cell phone, a Nokia cell phone, Samsung cell phone, and a Huawei Y9, among other pieces of property from one Lyle Leonard Wilson.
“They also took a 1 x million bottle of perfume, 1 x Montblanc bottle of perfume, 1 x Jimmychoo bottle of perfume, 2 x Bvlgari bottles of perfume, 1 x Obsession by Calvin Klien bottle of perfume, 1 x Beverly Hills bottle of perfume, 1 x Secretsunset bottle of perfume, a play station 4, play station pads, a HP Notebook laptop, one gold bracelet, an I-phone 11 Promax, a brown and red handbag inscribed GUESS, eye glasses, a pair of Rayban sunglasses, 1 x Narcisso Rodrigues bottle of perfume, Huawei P9 cell phone, an Iphone 6S, a Zimbabwean Passport and National Identity card in the name of Darrien Payn and an orange kit bag and to deprive Lawson permanently of his possession,” prosecutors proved.
The court further heard that after robbing Wilson, the trio used the same modus operandi to steal property worth a total of US$3,475 from 12 other individuals.
Lundu and Abdul were already serving a four-year prison sentence after they were found guilty of unlawful possession of a firearm.
Kelvin Munyimi prosecuted.