Brakwater robbers face sentencing

State prosecutor Anita Malherbe Meyer last week urged Judge Naomi Shivute to impose prison sentences on Jan Julius and George Jambeinge, who were found guilty of a N$3.7 million armed robbery at Brakwater seven years ago.
Meyer was highlighting the aggravating circumstances surrounding the robbery, arguing that a period of direct imprisonment is inescapable for both accused and urged the court to impose a deterrent sentence.
For Julius, she suggested a sentence of 18 years for armed robbery and for Jambeinge an eight-year prison term for theft.
Julius, a former employee of the Fidelity Cash Management Services Group, was last week found guilty as an accomplice to the 2009 robbery with aggravating circumstances.
The court established that Julius, who was the driver of the Fidelity Cash Management Services Group vehicle carrying the cash in transit, had pre-arranged with a hitchhiker to commit the robbery.
The hitchhiker attacked Stefanus Iyambo, a security officer accompanying Julius, on 29 December 2009 and took N$3.7 million that was in the van.
The prosecutor said the amount of money involved was astronomical.
“It has captured the imagination of the country. Imagine a person becoming a millionaire instantly,” she argued.
Meyer also expressed concern about the increasing number of armed robbery cases in the country.
“Armed robbery is staggering in this country,” she told the court.
Judge Shivute said in her judgment that Julius had unlawfully and intentionally furthered the commission of this crime by facilitating and encouraging the robbery.
When Jambeinge was arrested, he took the police to a house in Hochland Park where money was found in a green trunk in the boot of a Toyota Corolla.
The N$1.5 million found in possession of Jambeinge was linked to the robbery and the accused failed to give an explanation of how he came to possess the money.
“Jambeinge was found in possession of the money that was stolen. The court is entitled to draw an inference that the accused stole the money,” Shivute said.
Dismissing Julius’s plea for leniency so that he can take care of his four children from his previous marriage, as well as that of an unborn child with his current wife, Meyer said Julius had disregarded the future of his children when he committed the crime.
According to her, his argument that poverty was the motivating factor in the commissioning of the crime was unacceptable, since the two accused were not gripped by poverty when they committed the offence. “Their only motive was criminal,” she said.
According to Meyer, robbery and theft are prevalent in Namibia and the commission of such crimes involves extensive planning.
“It is coldblooded calculation that went into the planning and execution of the crime,” she argued.
She also asked the court to consider that an element of violence was involved in the robbery which was directed at Stefanus Iyambo.
However, Jorge Neves, appearing for both accused, argued that the case against his clients must be evaluated on its own merits.
He urged the court to impose suspended sentences and fines for Julius and Jambeinge, arguing that the fines would deter them by constantly reminding them not to engage in criminal activity.
Shivute postponed the matter to 8 September for sentencing.

FRED GOEIEMAN