Court sentences househelp to one year in prison for stealing cell phone

A Wuse Zone 6 Chief Magistrates’ Court, Abuja, on Monday, sentenced a househelp, Simon Jerry, to one year in prison for stealing a mobile phone valued at N264,000 from his boss.

Jerry, who resides at One-Man Village, Nasarawa State, was sentenced on a count charge of theft, an offence he admitted committing.

The Chief Magistrate, Mr Ibrahim Muhammed, however, gave the convict an option of N20,000 fine and another N95,000 as compensation for the stolen phone.

He further ordered that the convict would serve another one year sentence, which would run concurrently if he failed to pay the compensation.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Silas Nwaforagu, had told the court that one Habib Alkali of Oron Close, Area 1, reported the matter at the Garki Police Station on Dec. 3.

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Nwaforagu said that the complainant sometime in Jan. 2019 sent the convict to pick some items for him from the car he parked at the above address.

In addition, the prosecutor said the convict in the process, stole Alkali’s Samsung mobile phone in the car valued at N264,000 and ran away to an unknown destination.

He said it was not until Dec. 3, that he was sighted and arrested at Utako Village.

Nwaforagu said that during police investigation, the convict confessed that he sold the phone for N15,000 to a yet to be identified individual.

He also said the complainant’s MTN and Airtel sim cards were also discovered in his possession.

According to him, the offence contravened the provisions of Section 287 of the Penal Code.

(NAN)