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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter
A COP’s son broke into two houses belonging to police officers at Hwange Police Camp and stole four cellphone handsets and a laptop.

The officer whose name was not given in court, lived at the police camp with his son Milton Simpande (27) when he committed the crime.

Simpande, a vendor who sells fish, told the court that he stole to raise money for medical fees after a doctor told him that he was suffering from kidney failure.

He said the disease killed his sister last year, hence he was scared and resorted to stealing to save his life.

Simpande pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful entry and three counts of theft when he appeared before Hwange magistrate Sharon Rosemani.

“My sister died of kidney failure last year and when I also recently visited a doctor, he told me that I had blood traces in my stomach while my kidneys also have problems. I got scared and wanted money for medication,” Simpande told the magistrate in mitigation.

The magistrate sentenced him to 24 months in jail for the two counts of unlawful entry and 18 months for the three counts of theft, giving him a combined 42 months in prison.

The court heard that on the first count, Simpande proceeded to Tagarira Jambo’s place of residence at Hwange Police Camp on November 1 and stole a cellphone handset.

“He opened a window and gained entry. While inside he stole a G Tell 704i handset and left unnoticed,” said the prosecutor Ms Lindiwe Maseko.

The court was told that Simpande also broke into Sympathy Nyathi, also a cop at ZRP Hwange on the same night and stole two Nokia handsets.

While in the same house, Simpande also stole a laptop and its accessories belonging to Ms Itai Moyo who works at Painted Dog Conservancy.

The stolen property worth $1 917 was recovered after Simpande’s arrest on November 29.

@ncubeleon.