The Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court in Limbe has sentenced four men to spend 7 years in prison for torching Bvumbwe Police Sub-Station in Thyolo.

The State prosecutor, Sub Inspector Steven Mpira, told the court that the incident occurred on January 13, 2022, at about 7pm at Bvumbwe Police Sub-Station.

The police heard that the four men Stephano Beston, Marko Eliyasi , Saidi Muhame, and Thomas Albert, on the particular day set on fire Bvumbwe Police after suspecting the police to have had a hand in the death of a man who died whilst in the hands of court.

Sub Inspector Mpira further said that the four were apprehended by detectives and later charged with ‘Arson’ an offence that contravenes Section 337(a) of the penal code.

When they appeared in court they denied the charge levelled against them prompting Mpira to parade four witnesses who testified against them, proving them guilty beyond reasonable doubt, and were later found with a case to answer.

In submission, the state prosecutor pleaded with the court to hand them a stiffer punishment, saying the offense committed is serious in nature and government will lose a lot of money to renovate the offices and to replace the burnt items.

The state prosecutor further said that the action of the convicts interfered and disturbed the course of justice as some of the case files were burnt in the process.

In mitigation, the convicts pleaded with court to meteout a lenient sentence saying they were breadwinners in their families.

But passing judgment, Senior Resident Magistrate Byson Masonga concurred with Sub Inspector Mpira while quashing the convict’s mitigation factors.

As a deterrent to would-be-offenders, the presiding magistrate sentenced them to 7 years imprisonment with hard labour.

Stephano Beston is 27years old hails from Chiwembe Village Traditional Authority Kapeni and Marko Eliyasi is 35 years-old from Bandawe Village in Traditional Authority Machinjiri, both from Blantyre, While Thomas Albert is 27 years old and he comes from Chimkwende Village in the area of Traditional Authority Bvumbwe, and Saidi Muhame 41years-old comes from Chinthebe Village, in Traditional Authority Nchacha both from Thyolo.