By SYLVIA MWEETWA and YVONNE CHATE  –

A TWENTY-EIGHT-YEAR-OLD man who hacked a bonanza gambling machine after losing a K50 has been sentenced to seven years imprisonment with hard labour for causing malicious damage to property.
Kabwe Magistrate Chongo Musonda convicted and sentenced 28-year-old Canon Mwanza after he admitted the charge.
The unemployed man on January 9, 2015 damaged a bonanza slot machine valued at K30,000, property of Chola Maluti.
Musonda punched and axed the machine after it captured his K50.
“Your honor I admit the charge because I used my fist to punch the machine after it  swallowed my K50, I acted in such a manner because I was very angry but I regret my actions,” he said.
State Prosecutor Masokoye Phiri said that Musonda on the fateful night arrived at the tavern operated  by the complainant in Kabwe’s Nakoli Township while armed with an axe  and that efforts to stop him proved futile as he became violent.
The convict axed the machine several times before walking away and later the incident was reported to police.
In mitigation, Musonda asked for leniency from the court, saying he was  married  with  children and  that if sent to jail his children would suffer.
Meanwhile, a 38-year-old man of Ndola has been sentenced to one year imprisonment with hard labour for tearing his sister’s mattress after a dispute.
Ndola Magistrate Moffat Phiri found David Mwansa, of 2872 Kawama Township, guilty of malicious damage as he willfully and unlawfully damaged his sister’s mattress worth K300.
The complainant, Roydah Mwansa told the court that on February 10, she was awakened to a strange noise around 03:00 hours.
“My brother had become violent and he was hurling insults without any reason. He picked up my mattress and deliberately started tearing it up,” she said.
Mwansa asked the court for leniency as he had two children under his care.