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Sukulwenkosi Dube Plumtree Correspondent
A 54-YEAR-OLD Bulilima man will spend the next year in prison for assaulting his youthful wife after accusing her of selling his shaving machine and squandering the money.

Taurai Masendu who is from Sikhathini area arrived home drunk and failed to locate his shaving machine.

He confronted Sibonisiwe Ncube, 29, and demanded his shaving machine from her.

After she failed to produce it, Masendu armed himself with a log and struck her on the arm, thigh and right knee.

Masendu was convicted on his own plea of guilty to physical abuse by Plumtree magistrate, Gideon Ruvetsa.

He told the court that he was acting under the influence of alcohol but that did not stop Ruvetsa from throwing him behind bars.

“I was very drunk Your Worship and I wasn’t thinking properly. I was extremely cross because I couldn’t find my shaving machine and the things I did after that were beyond my control,” he said.

Masendu was sentenced to 18 months imprisonment of which six months were suspended for five years on condition that he does not commit a similar offence.

“If you were not restrained on time you could have seriously injured your wife. The offence you committed is serious because you were hitting a defenceless person with a dangerous weapon. Your action calls for a deterrent sentence.

“The level of violence you displayed shows that you are a danger to the people around you,” said Ruvetsa as he passed the sentence.

Elisha Mazorodze appeared for the state.