A 30-year-old man has been jailed 20 years, for stealing Shs 7000. The convict, Dickson Mwebaze, is a resident of Nakalele village in Sembabule district.
Court heard that on July 13, 2016, Mwebaze and his colleagues, still at large, waylaid a one Godfrey Kwizera and assaulted him. They reportedly stripped him naked and dumped him in a pool of water, where he was found the next day, struggling for his life. In the process, they also took from him a sum of Shs 7,000.
Mwebaze pleaded guilty to the charges. The prosecution asked the court to give him a deterrent sentence to the convict as a message to all persons involved in acts of robbery in which several lives have been lost. But defence lawyer, Alexander Lule told the court that the convict is remorseful for his actions.
The presiding judge Winfred Nabisinde told the court that the judiciary has a duty to protect the public from people like Mwebaze, who are involved in aggravated robbery which she says warrant a long custodial sentence.
She says that 20 years’ jail term would be appropriate for the offence, not because of the value of the money stolen but because of the actions of the convict of attempting to kill the victim.
However, the convict will serve 16-years from the time of his conviction, after the deduction of the time spent of three years spent on remand and another reduction of one year for saving courts time by pleading guilty.
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