Man sentenced to six years for cellphone theft
ALEXANDRA - Thanks to a helpful motorist, schoolchildren were able to retrieve their stolen cellphones from a thief.
A man from Rabie Ridge was recently sentenced by the Alexandra Magistrates’ Court to a six-year prison sentence for cellphone robbery.
Lester Steel (30) pleaded guilty to the offence which occurred at 11.30am on 16 January in President Park, Midrand.
The court heard that the accused robbed two schoolchildren he approached as they were walking home from school.
It was said that after they passed him, Steel turned around and pointed a gun at them while demanding that they hand over their cellphones.
The victims complied by handing over two Nokia cellphones and a Blackberry cellphone. Steel further demanded that the schoolchildren hand over any other valuables they had, but they said they had nothing. He then searched them but found nothing. Steel then ordered them to proceed and not look back.
After a short distance, the victims waved down a passing motorist and when doing so, the accused looked at them and allegedly ran away. Together with the motorist, the victims met and reported the incident to police officers on patrol in the area.
The police drove around and spotted the robber who they then stopped, searched and found the three cellphones in his possession. Steel was arrested and the cellphones returned to the victims. The firearm, however, was not found.
