Corpun file 7703 at www.corpun.com

Daily Nation, Nairobi, 24 August 2001

Man Gets 14 Years for Stealing Ten Mandazi

A 27-year-old man was yesterday jailed for 14 years for stealing one chapati, 10 mandazi and three samosas, among other goods from a kiosk.

Albert Kariuki Mwangi was sentenced by a Murang'a court to seven years for each of two theft counts. However, the jail terms will run concurrently.

Mwangi will also receive three strokes of the cane.

He broke into a Gatunguru shopping centre kiosk, Murang'a, on the night of February 25 and stole the goods, all valued at Sh2,900.

The other goods were a radio cassette, a meat-grinding machine, seven spoons, four cups, a hammer and two iron sheet cutters. Murang'a Senior Resident Magistrate Lucy Nyambura said Mwangi had no satisfactory explanation as to how he had come by the items recovered from his house.

She said: "This court believes he participated in committing the offences."

But in defence, Mwangi complained that, on his arrest, some people had frog-marched him back to the kiosk to inform him of the crime.

He was given 14 days to appeal.

The prosecutor, Inspector James Marete told the court that although the accused was a first offender the offence, which he committed, was a serious one, which deserved a deterrent sentence.

He was given fourteen days to appeal against the jail term.