Court jails customer 4 months for cheating

A Karmo Grade 1 Area Court in Abuja on Tuesday sentenced a 32-year-old man, Chukwunoso Obi, to four months imprisonment for cheating.

Obi, who resides at Idu Karmo, Abuja, was sentenced on a count charge of cheating.

The Judge, Alhaji Ahmed Ado, however, gave Obi an option of N5,000 fine and ordered the convict to pay the sum of N12,000 to the complainant as compensation.

The convict had earlier pleaded guilty and begged the court for leniency.

Ado said that the punishment would have been stiffer if the convict had not saved the court the rigour of protracted prosecution.

He also warned the convict to be of good behaviour.

The Prosecutor, Judith Obatomi, told the court that on July 20, Natasha Obi of Utako village, Abuja, reported at that the convict bought drinks and attempted to escape without paying at Utako Police Station.

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Obatomi said that the convict bought drinks for himself and his friends worth 12,000 from the complainant’s shop in Utako village.

She said that after the convict and his friends drank the drinks, he dishonestly refused to pay for the drinks and escape from the shop.

The prosecutor said the convict was caught in the process of escaping from the shop, adding that the convict made a confessional statement during the police investigation.

Obatomi said the offence contravened Section 322 of the Penal Code.