A Dei-dei Grade I Area Court sentenced a 28-year-old scavenger, Shuaibu Ismail, to 24 months imprisonment for stealing a gas cylinder, a cellphone and a generator set.

Mr Ismail was convicted and sentenced after pleading guilty to joint act and theft. He begged the court for leniency.

The Judge, Sulyman Ola, gave him an option to pay a fine of N70,000 and warned him to desist from committing crimes and be of good behaviour.

Mr Ola also ordered him to give the complainant, Abubakar Sadiq, N75,000 in compensation.

He also ordered the convict to pay N35,000 to the complainant, for medical bills and N250,000 stolen from him to be paid within six weeks.

The judge said if Mr Ismail failed to pay compensation, he would serve an additional four months imprisonment.

Earlier, the Prosecution Counsel, Chinedu Ogada, told the court that the complainant, Chukwu Nwako, reported the matter at the Galadima Police Station on September 24.

Mr Ogada said that the convict and one Ibrahim at large broke into the complainant’s shop at Gwarinpa 2, Abuja, and stole his generator set valued N75,000 and gas cylinder valued N14,500.

The prosecution counsel said during police investigations, Mr Ismail facilitated the recovery of the stolen items.

The offence, he said, contravened the provisions of sections 79 and 288 of the Penal Code.

(NAN)