A CRIMINAL was reduced to tears when he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the Orlando Regional Court on Friday.
Sizwe Mdemka, 21, broke down and burst into tears after the magistrate, Mohamed Jooma, found him guilty of robbing a woman in Dube, Soweto, in October last year.
"The community in that area are faced with economic challenges and it's vultures like you that are making it worse for them," Jooma said.
Jooma added that Mdemka's victim was in the presence of her young daughter.
"She was walking with her daughter when the incident took place," Jooma said.
"Not only was she traumatised, but her daughter was also scared."
Mdemka, according to Jooma, would not have hesitated to resort to violence had his victim not cooperated.
"You were wielding a broken bottle and asked for her bag and it is clear that if she had not let it go she would have been stabbed. You approached her from the front and she could see you.
"You struggled for the bag for about two minutes before she let it go. The wielding of the bottle was an implicit threat about what would happen to her if she didn't co-operate," Jooma said.
In February the woman spotted Mdemka in Dube and gathered the courage to approach him.
"She approached you and asked if you remembered her and also what you did to her. Members of the community policing forum then arrested you," he said. - selebim@sowetan.co.za
Thug breaks down in court
A CRIMINAL was reduced to tears when he was sentenced to 15 years in prison in the Orlando Regional Court on Friday.
Sizwe Mdemka, 21, broke down and burst into tears after the magistrate, Mohamed Jooma, found him guilty of robbing a woman in Dube, Soweto, in October last year.
"The community in that area are faced with economic challenges and it's vultures like you that are making it worse for them," Jooma said.
Jooma added that Mdemka's victim was in the presence of her young daughter.
"She was walking with her daughter when the incident took place," Jooma said.
"Not only was she traumatised, but her daughter was also scared."
Mdemka, according to Jooma, would not have hesitated to resort to violence had his victim not cooperated.
"You were wielding a broken bottle and asked for her bag and it is clear that if she had not let it go she would have been stabbed. You approached her from the front and she could see you.
"You struggled for the bag for about two minutes before she let it go. The wielding of the bottle was an implicit threat about what would happen to her if she didn't co-operate," Jooma said.
In February the woman spotted Mdemka in Dube and gathered the courage to approach him.
"She approached you and asked if you remembered her and also what you did to her. Members of the community policing forum then arrested you," he said. - selebim@sowetan.co.za