JOIN DRIVERN TAXI AS PARTNER DRIVER TODAY!
TWO Kitwe men will each serve 20 years in prison with hard labour for beating a taxi driver and robbing him of a motor vehicle and K100 cash.
Ndola High Court judge Mary Mulanda convicted Adam Chitambala and Paul Fumbata for hitting Shubet Chipulu with an iron bar on his head and stealing a Toyota Funcargo valued at K30,000.
Chitambala and Fumbata were charged with aggravated robbery but they both denied the charge.
The duo on August 8, last year, in Ndola, whilst armed with an iron bar, stole a Toyota Funcargo registration number ACX 1180, and K100 cash, belonging to Barbara Muntanga.
Justice Mulanda noted that the fact that Chitambala and Fumbata’s attack on the driver of the motor vehicle was premeditated was an aggravating factor.
“There is good qualification of Mr Chipulu’s (taxi driver) evidence as there was light in a place where he sat with Fumbata and Chitambala. According to Mr Chipulu, he sat with the two in a restaurant for about 30 minutes before asking him to drive to different places around Kitwe before launching the attack on Mr Chipulu.
“I find that it is the two who stole the motor vehicle. You hit Mr Chipulu with an iron bar in the head, causing him to sustain injuries. It is therefore competent for this court to convict you of aggravated robbery,” Justice Mulanda said.
She granted Chitambala and Fumbata leave to appeal to the Supreme Court within 14 days.
Mr Chipulu narrated to the court during trial that Chitambala and Fumbata hired the taxi he was operating and he drove them to different places before they attacked him.
He said the duo, while acting together, pushed him out of the vehicle after hitting him with an iron bar. The complainant said he bled profusely.
