Nyasha Eusein, who escaped the murder charge after the State withdrew the charge last month, appeared before Harare magistrate Munashe Chibanda and pleaded guilty to stealing two cellphones he had been given to fix by a client.

It was proved that Eusein had been on the run for more than three years in the theft case.

He was arrested five days after being released from remand prison where he was held for two months as a suspect in a murder case in which ex-cop Muvhevhi was later charged for.

Eusein was slapped with a 30-month jail term, but 10 months were suspended on condition that he doesn’t commit a similar offence in the next five years.

For the remaining 20 months, Eusein was ordered to restitute $280 000 for the stolen phones and to perform 700 hours of community service.

The court heard that in September 2019, the complainant, Chakaoneni Matipedza, was approached by Eusein, who told her that he could fix her two phones which were not working.

The State proved that Matipedza gave the phones, a Samsung Note4 and a Note 5, to Eusein, who told her that he needed to go to his workshop in the CBD to work on the phones.

She asked her son, Zvikomborero Gonorenda, to accompany Eusein and collect the phones when he was done fixing them.

While in town, Eusein disappeared with the phones and was never seen again until this year on January 30 in a commuter omnibus on the way to town from Epworth, five days after he was released from remand prison.

Gonorenda informed the police that he had identified Eusein as the man who had vanished with his mother’s cellphones in 2019 and he was arrested