A chief magistrates’ court in Kaduna on Wednesday ordered that 24-year-old Edward Williams should be given 12 strokes of the cane for stealing 12 plastic chairs worth N224,000.

Mr Williams, who resides in Ungwan Yelwa Television, Kaduna, was convicted after he pleaded guilty to criminal trespass and theft.

The chief magistrate, Ibrahim Emmanuel, sentenced the convict after he pleaded for leniency.

Mr Emmanuel said the punishment would have been severe if he had not pleaded guilty, adding that the guilty plea had saved the court the pains of long prosecution.

Earlier, the prosecutor, Chidi Leo, told the court that the complainant, Sarah Nehemiah, of Sabon Tasha, Kaduna, reported the matter at the Sabon Police Station on October 29.

Mr Leo told the court that at about 6:00 a.m., the convict burgled the complainant’s shop and stole 12 plastic chairs valued at N224,000.

According to him, the convict entered the shop through the ceiling and stole the chairs.

He said the convict, who was apprehended and handed over to the police by a security guard, admitted to committing the crime.

The prosecutor added that during the police investigations, the stolen plastic chairs were recovered from the convict.

The prosecutor said the offence contravened the provisions of the Penal Code of Kaduna State, 2017.
(NAN)