Online Reporter
TWO Bulawayo Polytechnic engineering students who robbed a Mukuru outlet, two Simbisa retail outlets and several houses in Bulawayo told the court that flashy lifestyles displayed on social media by celebrities influenced them to commit the crimes.
Lenny Mupande (21) of Gweru and Bezel Chirova (21) of Njube suburb in Bulawayo were convicted on their own pleas.
They were each sentenced to 11 years in jail for crimes committed between March and September.
In their mitigation Mupande and Chirova pleaded for leniency saying they committed the crimes due to societal pressures from their “well-off” peers as well as the lifestyles of social media influencers – The Chronicle