By A Correspondent | An inmate who escaped from custody after he was brought to court last month will live to regret his decision after he was slapped with a 22-year jail term by a Harare magistrate.

Luke Zinyengere was jailed 10 for escaping from jail and 12 years for robbing a motorist of his car which he used as a get away vehicle.

Zinyengere escaped together with Tafadzwa Richard Marondera who was caught before he could make it far.

The state alleges they got help from a syndicate which included Zinyengere’s relatives, a prison officer and a prosecutor.

All the alleged accomplices are in jail awaiting trial.

Before this case, Zinyengere was already on remand on allegations of robbing Quest Finance.

In handing down her sentence, Rwodzi took this into consideration ruling that Zinyengere deserved a sharp custodial sentence.

“The plan was executed in a movie style and it traumatised a lot of people including court officials.

“You also traumatised the innocent, the general public who were doing their business and the owner of the car whom you robbed.

“The original crime that he is facing should be considered and in this case there are several cases of armed robbery.

“I will settle for the highest penalty. Escaping from lawful custody shows that you cannot be rehabilitated in the near future. Society must be protected and jailbreak is not a kids game,” she ruled.