A Dei-Dei Grade 1 Area Court in Abuja on Monday sentenced a 33-year-old panel beater, Emmanuel Ananda, to six months’ imprisonment for stealing Jeep parts worth N85,000.

Mr Ananda, a resident of F1 Kubwa, Abuja, was sentenced on a count charge of theft. He pleaded guilty and begged for leniency.

The Judge, Sulyman Ola, however, gave the convict an option of N30,000 fine, and also warned him to avoid all kinds of crimes. 

The prosecutor, Chinedu Ogada, had told the court that the defendant committed the offence sometime in April 2022.

Mr Ogada said that on June 13, the complainant, Ibrahim Kingsley of Dutse, Abuja, reported the case at Dutse Alhaji Police Station, Abuja.

The prosecutor said that a customer brought his Jeep to the complainant’s workshop for repairs.

He said that the convict went to the complainant’s workshop without his knowledge and stole the vehicle’s air compressor, engine seating, injector and engine fan.

According to the prosecutor, during police investigation, Mr Ananda confessed to the crime, and all efforts to recover the items proved abortive.

He said that the offences contravened Section 288 of the Penal Code.

(NAN)