Xmas Booze: Mbare shebeen owner jailed 2 years for selling beer to juveniles

Court proved Phaeton Mutiyaya sold beer to a group of minors aged between 5 and 11
By Staff Reporter
Mbare shebeen operator Phaeton Mutiyaya has been sentenced to two years in jail after he was found guilty of selling beer to juveniles – aged 5 to 11 years – who were later caught on a viral video on Christmas Day last year freely imbibing the intoxicating liquid.
Harare magistrate Batanai Madzingira found the 23-year-old guilty of selling liquor to minors, selling liquor without a licence and operating a shop without a licence.
Mutiyaya was arrested police traced the source of the alcohol to his shebeen in the Harare high density suburb.
The court heard he was operating a liquor shop in Mbare without a licence.
Prosecutors proved that Mutiyaya indeed sold the alcohol to the children despite knowing that they were all minors.
Mutiyaya was found guilty on all counts.
For the first count of operating without a licence, he was jailed 12 months.
Mutiyaya was sentenced to another year for selling liquor to minors.
The magistrate also sentenced him to an additional four months in prison for operating a shop without a licence, but the sentence was wholly suspended for three years on condition of good behaviour, leaving him to serve two years effective.
Janet Mlambo prosecuted.