By Oluwatope Lawanson
Lagos – An Ikeja Magistrates’ Court, Lagos, on Friday, sentenced a 21-year-old unemployed man, Christian Udoka, to three weeks community service for stealing a mobile phone and N8,000 cash.
The magistrate, Mrs O.A. Akokhia, sentenced Udoka, after he pleaded guilty to a two-count charge of conspiracy and stealing.
She held that the convict should spend two hours everyday for the next three weeks doing community service.
According to Akokhia, the sentence will serve as a deterrent to others, who are planning to commit such crime.
She advised the convict to change his behaviour and desist from committing crime.
Earlier, the Police Prosecutor, Insp Benedict Aigbokhan, told the court that the accused committed the offences with one other person still at large, on Dec. 20, 2017 at Ojo area of Lagos State.
Aigbokhan said the accused was apprehended and handed over to the police at Ojo division by some pressers-by.
He said that the accused stole one Nokia phone and N8,000 from the complainant, Ukpong Friday, who was on her way home from work.
“They forcefully snatched the complainant’s bag, containing the phone and money and immediately took to their heels.
“The accused was caught by some passers-by, who came to the rescue of the complainant, and he was handed over to the police”.
Aigbokhan said the offences contravened Sections 287 and 411 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2015 (Revised).
The accused had, however, urged the court to temper justice with mercy, saying he committed the crime out of ignorance and poverty.