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Tendai Rupapa Senior Court Reporter
A Form Four pupil at Churchill Boys High in Harare hired a taxi before stealing the vehicle after the driver disembarked to look for change at Fife Avenue Shopping Centre. Sherpherd Kapita (19) was arrested two weeks later after the owner of the vehicle, a Honda Fit, saw him driving it in the city centre.

Kapita pleaded guilty to theft of a motor vehicle when he appeared before Ms Bianca Makwande.

When asked by the magistrate why he committed the offence, Kapita said he had been sent by his mother to Zambia and used all the money on beer and women, hence he was afraid to go back home.

“Your Worship, I was afraid to go back home so I thought of stealing a vehicle so that I would use it as a taxi and raise the $300 which I had used,” he said.

Kapita pleaded for the court’s leniency, arguing that he was still in school and Ms Makwande rolled over the matter to today for sentencing.

Ms Makwande ordered the State to confirm with Churchill High School if indeed Kapita was a pupil there.

The prosecutor, Ms Dorah Moyo, said that on January 3, Priviledge Musekiwa was parking his vehicle in the city centre which he was using as a taxi when he was approached by Kapita.

Kapita hired Musekiwa on the pretext that he wanted to see his girlfriend in the Avenues area.

On arrival at the said block of flats, Kapita disembarked and told Musekiwa to wait for him while he went upstairs.

He came back after some few minutes and told Musekiwa that his girlfriend was still busy and ordered Musekiwa to proceed to Fife Avenue Shopping Centre, saying he wanted to buy food so that he could get some change.

Upon arrival at the shops, Kapita gave Musekiwa $10 and told him to go and buy him a drink and get his fare which was $3.

Musekiwa left Kapita in the vehicle and went into OK Supermarket.

When he returned, his vehicle was nowhere to be seen and was advised by other motorists that Kapita had driven off.

On January 18 at around 8am, Musekiwa was aboard a commuter omnibus when he saw Kapita driving his vehicle.

He jumped from the moving kombi through the window and ran towards his vehicle and managed to snatch the ignition keys after a struggle with Kapita. He then made a police report.