NAN-H-45
Teenagers
By Sylvester Thompson
Abuja, July 26, 2017(NAN) A Gudu Upper Area Court in Abuja on Wednesday, sentenced two teenagers, aged 14 years and 15 years, to one month imprisonment each, for stealing 17 telephone handsets.
The convicts had pleaded guilty to a three-count charge of criminal conspiracy, shop breaking and theft contrary to the law.
The judge, Mr Umar Kagarko however, gave the two convicts an option to pay N12, 000 fine each and to jointly pay compensation of N40, 000 to the owner of the handsets.
The judge said he had taken into consideration the plea of the defence counsel, Mr Osaze Ebie, who begged the court to temper justice with mercy when delivering judgment on the matter.
Earlier, the prosecutor, Mr Fidelis Ogbobe, had told the court that one Hamisa Abdullahi of B855 Okrika line, Garki Market, had reported the matter at Garki police station on June 30.
Ogbobe said the complainant reported that on June 29, his shop at the above mentioned address was broken into and various assorted handsets and accessories were stolen.
He said that a total of 17 assorted handsets, four memory cards, 40 batteries, recharge cards and cash of N200, 000 were stolen from the complainant’s shop.
“The total sum of all the stolen items plus the cash sum amounts up to N1, 738, 300.00,’’ Ogbobe said.
The prosecutor also said that during police investigation, it was discovered that the convicts auctioned the phones to one Umar Idris.
The said Umar was arrested and a small black bag which the convicts also carted away from the shop was recovered from him.
When asked by the judge where the phones were, the convicts confessed that two were recovered from them, 12 sold and the rest with Umar.
Meanwhile, the court sentenced Umar to four months in jail or to pay N20,000 fine after he pleaded guilty to receiving stolen property.
The court also asked Umar to pay N1.5 million damages to Abdullahi. (NAN)
SET/JCE
Edited by Chukwudi Ekezie