A BULAWAYO couple has been charged with illegal possession of stolen copper cables and transformer copper bars valued at US$130 000.
Tapfumaneyi Muzarabani and Tracy Ncube had their bail application before High Court judge Justice Christopher Dube-Banda dismissed.
They are facing four counts of possession of copper without a licence or permit.
According to the court papers, the duo rented a house in Mahatshula, Bulawayo, which they used as storage for the stolen copper cables.
Police recovered copper material varying from overhead copper conductors, transformer copper bars, armoured cables and scrap copper from electric motor winders and two digital scales at the property after receiving a tip-off.
The scrap copper was valued at US$52 000, while armoured and overhead copper conductors with a total weight of 3 420kg had an estimated value of US$68 400.
They were also found with National Railways of Zimbabwe copper cables, 340kg of locomotive power copper valued at US$8 600.
TelOne Zimbabwe identified recovered copper cables with a weight of 100kg, valued at US$2 000 from the recovered copper cables, TelOne managed to identify material weing 100kg with a value of $US2 000 as theirs.
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The couple applied for bail at the regional magistrate court saying they had two minor children of school-going age.
They also submitted that they had an immovable property which they wanted to surrender as security.
The State argued that Muzarabani had a previous conviction.
Police also testified that the couple made frequent visits to the property to deliver stolen copper cables.
It is alleged that the duo also kept vicious dogs to keep prying eyes, including the police, away.
The regional court found the duo as facing serious offences and ruled that the prospect of long prison sentences might induce the two to abscond and flee the country.
Aggrieved by the refusal to grant them bail, they approached the High Court.
The State, however, opposed the application, arguing that the two were a flight risk.
The prosecution also submitted that it had a very strong case against the suspects and that a conviction was guaranteed.
It was submitted that the two appellants were not good candidates for bail as doing so would have a net effect of undermining the criminal justice system.
Justice Dube-Banda upheld the regional court decision, citing the seriousness of the charges.
“The regional magistrate found that the expectation of substantial sentences of imprisonment would undoubtedly provide an incentive for the appellants to abscond and evade trial. I cannot fault this finding,” she ruled.
“The first appellants’ previous conviction and the number of charges he is facing in this case and the quantity of copper found at the Mahatshula house clearly indicate that it would not be in the interests of justice to admit him the bail.”
The judge added: “The appellants failed to establish that the decision of the regional magistrate was wrong. It is for these reasons that this appeal must fail.”
