Entering into a protected area to catch fish has earned a 65-year-old man 18 months imprisonment with hard labour.
According to police, on August 18 this year at Bua River, the man Kusita Adam conveyed panga knife and mosquito nets and entered into Nkhotakota Game Reserve to fish.
But he was apprehended by Parks and Wildlife Assistants who were on patrol. They took him to Nkhotakota police station.
On Tuesday, he appeared before Nkhotakota first grade magistrate court where he pleaded guilty to the charges of entering a protected area without permission and conveying prohibited weapons in a protected area.
During mitigation, Adam pleaded with the court to exercise leniency when passing the sentence saying he is a breadwinner for his family and is an aged man.
Magistrate Fred Juma Chilowetsa took into consideration his mitigation factors and slapped him to one and half year imprisonment with hard labour.
He further said the sentence was meant to teach the convict a lesson and also to act as a deterrent sentence to would-be offenders.
Kusita Adam comes from Linyama village, Traditional Authority Mphonde in Nkhotakota.
