An Ado-Ekiti Magistrates’ Court in Ekiti State has sentenced a 26-year-old man, Femi Ayelegun, to seven years imprisonment for stealing a N45,000 phone inside a Nissan Almera car.
The convict, whose address was not provided, was sentenced to imprisonment without an option of fine on Wednesday.
The Magistrate, Dolapo Kay-Williams, sentenced the ex-convict after he pleaded guilty to the offence.
In delivering her judgment, Kay-Williams said if Ayelegun was given a minimal sentence, he would still be a burden to the society and to himself.
She ruled: “In view of this, the defendant is sentenced to seven years imprisonment as provided for by Section 302 (1) (b) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ekiti State, 2021.”
Earlier, the Prosecutor, Sergeant Sodiq Adeniyi, told the court that the convict committed the offence sometimes in 2021 at Okuta-Gbokuta-lori Area in Ado-Ekiti.
Adeniyi said Ayelegun stole a phone valued at N45,000 inside a Nissan Almera Tino car with registration number KLE 71 AA, belonging to one Olumide Omoyajowo.
He said that on the fateful day, the convict broke the glass of the front passenger door of the car and also stole a handbag containing N200,000 and a Dell laptop valued at N240,000.
The prosecutor said that also contained in the bag was a N62,000 phone, the property of Victoria Fajuyige.
According to him, the offence contravened Section 302 (6) of the Criminal Code, Laws of Ekiti State, 2021.
Adeniyi told the court that the convict was a habitual criminal.
He said: “He has been imprisoned three times in the past.
“Therefore, I urge the court to give him the punishment he deserves.”
In his confession before the court, Ayelegun said: “I have stolen a lot of phones that I cannot remember and normally sell to traders at Atikankan area of Ado Ekiti.
“I am an ex-convict.
“I have been to the prison three times.”
Counsel to the convict, Kayode Oyeyemi, prayed the court to temper justice with mercy in view of his guilty plea.