A 21-year-old carpenter identified as Surajo Sherif has been sentenced to eight months’ imprisonment by the Grade I Area Court in Dei-Dei Shagari quarters, Abuja for stealing a phone.
Mr Sheriff pleaded guilty to theft and begged for leniency.
The judge, Sulyman Ola, gave the convict an option to pay a fine of N30,000, and warned him to desist from committing a crime in the future.
Earlier, the prosecution counsel, Chinedu Ogada, told the court that the complainant, Abel Onuche, of Zuma 2 Bwari, Abuja reported the matter to the police on January 31.
Mr Ogada said on the same date, at about 6:29 p.m., while the complainant was walking along the first gate by Dutse market, the convict stole his phone.
He said the convict smartly removed the complainant’s Tecno Pop IV phone valued N40,000 from his pocket but was caught immediately in the act and handed over to the police.
He added that during police interrogation and investigation, the convict confessed to the crime, and the phone was recovered from him.
The prosecutor said the offence contravened section 288 of the Penal Code.