Man jailed 5 years for stealing fertilizer

Nkhotakota First Grade Magistrate court has sentenced a 25 year-old man to 5 years in jail for stealing his mother’s fertilizer.

Magistrate Fred Juma Chilowetsa meted out the penalty against Hamza Harid of Vinjenje village in the area of Senior Chief Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota.

Court through public prosecutor Cedrick Cosmas of Nkhotakota police station heard that during the night of January 14, the convict broke into the house of his biological mother Ayidale Ayisa.

He then stole two bags of subsidised fertiliser valued at K44,000 and sold them to a certain man at a price of K23,500.

The thief was arrested on January 15 and was charged with the offences of burglary and theft against section 309 and 278 of the penal code respectively.

The court found him guilty of the charges and state prosecutor Cosmas said the convict deserved a stiff penalty due to his misconduct since in November 2016 he was given an 18 month suspended sentence for the offence of theft of bicycle but in a space of two months he committed another offence.

In mitigation, Harid pleaded to court to be lenient when passing the sentence claiming that he is a bread winner to his family and promised to never commit a similar offence.

But magistrate Chilowetsa said that family problems are not a major factor to mitigate his sentence hence he slapped him with a 5 year jail term.

In a related development, the same court has sentenced a 21 year-old man identified as Madalitso Msiska Umande to 3 years in jail for breaking into a house and stealing assorted items with a total value of K69,300.

Umande hails from Kamange village in the area of senior chief Ma  lengachanzi in Nkhotakota.