Tinotenda Hove- What began as a daring midnight goat heist in Zvishavane ended in humiliation after the would-be thief left behind the most incriminating evidence possible — his own shoe.

The Zvishavane Magistrates’ Court on Monday convicted 22-year-old Fednard Dimoli of stock theft after villagers tracked him down using the abandoned footwear.

On September 21, at Village Madhobhi under Chief Masunda, Dimoli broke into a neighbor’s goat pen at around 2AM, removing poles from the back to gain entry. He tied up a goat valued at US$50 and attempted to sneak away under the cover of darkness.

But barking dogs alerted the owner, who rushed out to find the pen broken into. To her surprise, she discovered not only the missing goat but also a single shoe and a plastic bottle lying on the ground.

Later, the victim spotted Dimoli hiding nearby before he fled. With the help of fellow villagers, footprints were traced to his homestead — where the matching shoe and the stolen goat were both recovered.

Dimoli’s clumsy crime earned him six months behind bars. However, the court suspended two months on condition of good behavior and converted the remaining four months into 140 hours of community service.

Villagers have since nicknamed him the “Sole Destroyer,” joking that while the goat survived, Dimoli’s reputation did not.