A MAN who broke into an animal clinic and stole a dishcloth – his first offence – has been sentenced to five years in jail in the Pretoria Magistrate’s Court. “There are too many people who walk around and break into houses without caring about the consequences for the victims,” magistrate Kallie Bosch told Johannes Mantosi, 42. The owner of the clinic was alerted by her security company and arrived on the property to find windows broken and food from the freezer on the floor in the passage. Security guards found Mantosi, a homeless man from Hammanskraal, hiding in a corner outside behind the clinic. They searched him and found the dishcloth in his pocket. Mantosi pleaded not guilty to housebreaking and theft. He said in mitigation that his shack had been destroyed by rain.
Five years for stealing a dishcloth? Does the punishment fit the crime in this case?