A Dei-dei Grade I Area Court in Abuja, has sentenced a panel beater identified as Adebo John, to three years in prison for stealing his customer’s car.
The 40-year-old defendant was convicted and sentenced on Wednesday, April 24 after pleading guilty to the charges. He begged the court for leniency.
The prosecution counsel, Chinedu Ogada, told the court that the complainant, Igwe Ukoha gave John his vehicle to panel beat and paint but instead he took the vehicle to Kaduna State to sell.
He reported the matter at Zuba Police Station and John consequently got arrested by a team of surveillance operatives of the Kaduna Police Command, adding that the offence contravened the provisions of Section 287 of the Penal Code.
Section 287 states that whoever commits theft shall be punished with imprisonment for a term which may extend to five years or with fine or with both.
The judge, Saminu Suleiman gave convict the option of N300,000 (Three Hundred Thousand Naira) fine and warned him to desist from committing crimes and be of good behaviour.