The police at Thohoyandou hailed the eight-year sentence meted out to a suspect who is currently serving a two-year sentence as a deterrent. Police spokesperson Capt Mashudu Malelo says 35-year-old Nndwamato Makhado is currently serving a two-year sentence for housebreaking and the second sentence came without the option of a fine. Makhado was recently sentenced in the Thohoyandou Magistrate´s Court. He was positively linked to a housebreaking case committed at Shayandima during the night of October 25, 2008. It was found that he broke into a house and stole a DVD player, home theatre and a cell phone, while the occupants were asleep. He pleaded guilty and his sentence will run concurrently with his first sentence. In a separate case, Tshisamphiri Patrick Nemaheni (41) was sentenced to five years´ imprisonment for housebreaking that happened at Ha Radali village in October 2009. The victim in the case alleges that he left his home for church service on 25 October 2009 at 10:00, leaving all his doors and windows properly closed. On coming back at 13:00 of the same day, he found the front door damaged, and his cell phone was missing. He reported the matter to the police, who traced the phone and arrested the suspect at a busy shopping centre. Malelo said as police they were extremely satisfied with the sentences and hailed them as a deterrent that would scare would-be housebreakers. “We really appreciate the work that is being done by our justice system, which imposes sentences that match the crime as this will scare away others who have intentions of stealing." He also thanked the community for their continued support in tipping off police about incidents of crime.