The Lugbe Grade 1 Area Court, Abuja, on Tuesday, sentenced a 20-year-old labourer, Ishaya Hassan, to five months in the correction centre for stealing armoured cable.

The judge, Aliyu Kagarko, sentenced Mr Hassan after he pleaded guilty to the offence of stealing and prayed the court for mercy.

Mr Kagarko, however, gave Mr Hassan the option of paying N30,000 fine, and warned him to desist from committing crime in the future.

He said the punishment would have been stiffer if the convict had not saved the court the rigours of a protracted prosecution.

Prosecution counsel Stanley Nwaforaku said Sgt. Joshua Simon of Defence Intelligence Agency, Asokoro, Abuja, arrested the convict and the case was transferred to the Asokoro police station on December 1.

Mr Nwaforaku said the convict, who was a labourer at DIA construction site, on November 11, 2023, dishonestly made away with 28 meters of 12mm armoured cable from the store.

He said the convict was later caught and handed over to the police for investigation.

The prosecutor said during police interrogation and investigation, the convict confessed to the crime and the cables were recovered from him.

Mr Nwaforaku said the offence committed contravened Section 287 of the Penal Code.

(NAN)