A BEITBRIDGE armed robber has been slapped with a 24-year jail sentence after a crime spree which include an attempted murder of a villager in the border town. BY SILAS NKALA Petious Ndou (26) of Beitbridge denied both robbery and attempted murder charges when he appeared before Beitbridge magistrate Stanley Mambanje. But last week, Mambanje convicted him of both charges and sentenced him to 12 years on each charge, and in total he got a 24-year jail term. Allegations were that Ndou pounced on a villager at his home in Mutete in Beitbridge armed with a pistol. He fired shots in the air and then assaulted occupants of the homestead, before robbing them of property worth R15 000. Prior to the robbery, he had attacked and nearly killed another villager. State prosecutor Munyonga Kuvarega told the court that in the robbery incident which Ndou committed on August 28, the accused went to Mutete village where he fired several shots and assaulted Shumani Nguluve with fists and stole her property that included mobile phones, a laptop, and a pair of shoes all worth R15 000. He also stole a Honda Fit car which he later dumped, and was recovered. On the attempted murder charge, the court was told that on January 25 Ndou was at Dite Business Centre in Beitbridge where Billy Ndou was drinking beer at Mukwena Bar. Ndou intercepted Billy demanding that he should buy him beer but he refused. It is the State's case that a misunderstanding arose while Ndou, who was in the company of other three accomplices who are still at large, and Billy. Ndou produced an Okapi knife and stabbed Billy once on the left side of the chest. Billy fell to the ground. He sustained injuries on the stomach, chest and on the right thigh. A police report was then made which led to Ndou’s arrest, while his alleged accomplices are still at large.