KADOMA – A thug seen repeatedly striking another man with a truncheon in a viral internet video previously faced charges of attempted murder and impersonating a police officer, a court heard.
Last Friday, Litten Chikowore of Waverley in Kadoma was convicted of assault for the brutal attack on 30-year-old Pedzisai Mangisi and will be sentenced on April 8.
Kadoma magistrate Takudzwa Gwazemba heard that Chikowore, a gold miner, was not new to the justice system, having been arrested three times earlier between 2014 and 2016.
He was charged with attempted murder in 2014 and impersonating a police officer two years later. He also faced charges of illegal gold dealing.
On all three occasions, the charges were withdrawn before trial under unclear circumstances.
Prosecutor Gracious Chaminuka pleaded with the magistrate to give Chikowore a custodial sentence, saying the attack on Mangisi had been particularly savage and the public looked up to the court to hand down a matching sentence.
Ignatius Murambasvina, defending, said Chikowore was a first-time offender, despite facing a slew of previous charges that never went to trial.
The lawyer said Chikowore, the director of Kinum Start Mining, was a bread winner for his two wives and six children, asking the magistrate to use the full range of non-custodial options at his disposal, which he said would serve justice in the case.
The medical report produced in court also did not indicate that Mangisi suffered permanent serious injuries as a result of the assault, the lawyer argued.
The court heard that the assault took place sometime in November last year. Chikowore was accusing Mangisi of stealing 400 grammes of gold from him.
Chikowore claimed he filed a police report but was advised to seek an out-of-court settlement, which led to him attacking Mangisi.
Chikowore handed himself over to police in the company of his lawyer after a 45-second video of the assault was widely circulated on the internet as outraged Zimbabweans demanded justice for Mangisi.
His lawyer claimed Chikowore, who pleaded guilty, had suffered “psychological trauma” as a result of the worldwide publication of the video.
He was remanded out of custody to April 8 for sentencing.
