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Cellphone thieves given lengthy sentences
Police are warning the community not to brandish their valuables, especially cellphones while walking in public.
This warning comes despite the sentencing of four men to a total of 27 years for cellphone robberies in the Sydenham area.
In the first of three seperate incidents, two suspects Edward Leslenyelo (36) and Siyabonga Mhlongo (20) of the Cato crest shacks were sentenced to ten years each for robbing a female of her cellphone on Randles Road in May 2005. They greeted the lady, pulled her into a corner, searched her and took her cellphone. The female gave chase after the suspects. She stopped a metro police van for assistance. The Police and the community arrested the suspects in Buro Crescent. The cellular phone was recovered.
Stacy Lotz (30) was sentenced to five years for armed robbery. He robbed two school children of their cellular phones in Butcher Road. The boys were exchanging music tones at the side of the road. The Public assisted in apprehending the suspect minutes after he committed the crime.
Patrick Hlongwane (20) of Chesterville was sentenced to twelve years imprisonment for stabbing and robbing a schoolboy of his cellular phone on Hugo Road, Sydenham in June 2008. The victim was on his way to pick up his brother from preschool. Hlongwane grabbed his victim around the neck and stabbed him in his hip, twice. The suspect fled into bushes but Police arrested him.
Sydenham Station Commissioner Senior Superintendent Glen Nayager noted that the incidents involved school children.
"The holiday season and the years to follow should be incident free. Parent's are warned not to allow their children to use cellular phones on the streets. Children need to be taught safety measures because criminals prey any time,"
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