HLANGANANI – Philician Kubayi (42) will spend the next ten years in jail for housebreaking and theft. The case was finalised in the Waterval Regional court last Saturday.

The incident to which the case is related took place at the Hlanganani RDP houses area during the night on 1 April this year at about 23:00.

The court heard that during the night of the incident the accused and his friend broke into the plaintive's house by breaking a window. At that time the plaintive was not home. They stole goods ranging from clothing to groceries.

The value of the stolen goods is estimated to be about R9 000. The plaintive only discovered the theft when she came home the following morning. She then reported the matter to the police. The accused was arrested a few weeks after the incident.

The court further heard that the accused was busy selling the stolen goods when he was arrested. He met the plaintive and tried to sell the goods to her. The plaintive realised that the goods were hers and decided to inform the police, who responded by arresting the accused moments thereafter.

It was later discovered that some of the stolen goods were being used by the accused's girl friend. The case was postponed several times before it was finalized last Saturday. The offender, a Mozambican resident, was not given the option of paying a fine. His friend was still at large at the time of going to press, despite the fact that he is known to the police.