Philemon Mudenda pleaded guilty to assaulting Edward Munkuli (43), when he appeared before Binga resident magistrate, Stephen Ndlovu, last week. The magistrate convicted and sentenced Mudenda to 24 months in jail.
Eight months of the sentence were suspended for five years on condition of good behaviour. He will serve an effective 15 months in prison.The court heard that on April 5 this year at 5pm, Mudenda and Munkuli were drinking home-made beer at Saba area in Binga sharing the same mug. Munkuli said the beer would be finished soon as it was “too tasty”.
Mudenda accused Munkuli of lying, claiming he didn’t want to share the beer.
He then snatched the beer mug from Munkuli and later attacked him with fists. This prompted a serious fight between the two. Mudenda later grabbed a log which he used to strike Munkuli several times all over the body.
Munkuli sustained a broken lower jaw and several injuries all over the body as a result of the attack. He was taken to Binga Hospital for treatment. A report was made to the police and led to the arrest of Mudenda.
Passing the sentence, Ndlovu said: “Surely you seriously assaulted Munkuli with a log to a point of fracturing his jaw over beer! Why did you not continue to fight him with fists as you had started? This makes you to deserve a jail term.”Bruce Maphosa prosecuted.
