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Man gets suspended sentence for theft and breaking

Sep 21, 2012, 10:20 AM | Article By: Malamin L.M. Conteh

One Mustapha Jabbi was yesterday convicted and sentenced to a two-year suspended jail term by Magistrate Ebrima Kijera of the Bundung Magistrates’ Court.

The convicted person, Mustapha Jabbi, was charged on two counts of theft and housebreaking, a charge he had denied.

Delivering his judgment, the trial magistrate stated that the convict was charged with theft and housebreaking, to which he pleaded not guilty, adding that the prosecution called four witnesses in support of their case while the accused testified as a lone witness.

He added that PW1, PW2, and PW3, all said the convict had rented a room to them for D1,000 per month, after which they left for Basse, and they asked their maid to look after their room for them.

The trial magistrate further stated that the convict later sacked the maid who was entrusted to look after the room.

Still delivering his judgment, the magistrate added that upon the return of the complainants, they found that the door of their house was broken and their belongings or property were missing.

The trial magistrate adduced that after mounting an investigation by the police, they recovered the DVD from PW4, who told the court that the said DVD was given to her by the convicted person as a guarantee for the D100 he borrowed from her.

He stated that the fact that the convict had admitted that he took the DVD and gave it to PW4, and he took the TV from the room in the absence of the complainants, made the court to believe that the act was done by the convict, since he did not have the keys to the room.