Why Zimbabwe thief 'begs to be jailed for life'

Lovemore Manyika, 22, wrote a note which was read out in the Harare court, saying: "Life in prison is better than life in the streets."
A Harare magistrate court had convicted Manyika of house-breaking in Zimbabwe has asked the judge to jail him for life.
The Herald newspaper reports that he was disappointed to be only sentenced to three years.
Manyika was released from prison in April after a previous conviction, the paper says.
He broke into two houses in central Harare in July, stealing two mobile phones, a plasma TV and $1,800 (£1,150) in cash.
Six months of his prison term were suspended if he repays $1,956 by 30 September, the paper says.

Detaineese walk with guards at Chikurumbi Maxim Security Prison outside 

 

Zimbabwe's prisons are often condemned for squalid overcrowding but a thief begged a magistrate to lock him up permanently, saying life was better behind bars, state media reported Tuesday.

Repeat offender Lovemore Manyika, 22, pleaded for life imprisonment in a note during mitigation after he was convicted for housebreaking.
"Life in prison is better than life in the streets," Manyika is reported to have said in his note which was read out by the state prosecutor, according to The Herald newspaper.
"May I have life in prison."
But the court sentenced Manyika to three years in jail.
Prosecutors said Manyika scaled a security wall at a block of flats in July before entering an apartment through a toilet window and stealing various electrical gadgets, two Apple iPhones and $1,800 (1,467 euros) cash.
The magistrate suspended six months of Manyika's sentence on condition that he pays back $1,956.