NYAHURURU, Kenya, Jan 11 – A middle aged man who allegedly stole his neighbor’s New Year shopping worth Sh400 was on Monday jailed for four years on his own plea of guilty by a Nyahururu court.
Stanley Njukia Mumbi admitted before Nyahururu resident magistrate Caroline Obara that he broke into the house of David Mwai Wangeci and stole one kilogram of sugar, two kilograms of wheat flour, one kilogram of cooking fat and a bar soap all value at Sh405.
The victim was in bed when the incident happened at Kahurugo village in Nyandarua West district on December 31 last year. He had locked up his kitchen where the items were as he retired to bed at 10 PM.
But his New Year celebration mood was spoilt when he woke up in the morning and found that the items he had bought for the fete had been stolen and his wife had nothing to cook.
The accused was arrested by members of the public six days later in a maize farm where he was stealing green maize, and upon interrogation admitted that he was the one that stole the complainant’s food stuffs. He was escorted to Oljoro Orok police station where he was charged with the offence.
The court prosecutor Paul Omweri said that the accused even took the members of the public to his house where the items were recovered.
The prosecutor urged the magistrate to offer a stern sentence to the accused which would serve as a deterrent to other would-be offenders, as theft had become rampant in the region.
In mitigation, the accused pleaded for mercy, saying that his wife had ran away, he was hungry and that his mother had refused to give him food. He has 14 days to appeal the sentence.
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