Two men in Lilongwe have been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment by the Nkukula magistrate court for setting on fire structures at Dzenza market.
The convicts have been identified as Precious Ndala (28) and Innocent Phiri (19) .
The two on 22 September 2017 set ablaze 22 structures valued to K650,000.
This followed misunderstanding between one of the business people at the market and the two convicts.
The two men were later arrested and in court they both pleaded guilty to the charge of arson contrary to section 337 of the penal code.
In their mitigation, they pleaded for leniency since they are first offenders and Innocent Phiri said he would like to go back to school if he is to be given a chance.
Police Prosecutor Assistant Superitendent Peter Piringu of Kanengo Police Station pleaded for a stiffer punishment by telling the court that the convicts deterred development in the community.
Precious Ndala hails from Ng’ombe village in the area of Traditional Authority Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota while Innocent Phiri hails from Jonabe village in the area of Traditional Authority Chitukula in Lilongwe.
Police have since appealed to the public to desist from taking the law into their own hands when misunderstanding erupts among them but they should seek solutions from leaders of their communities or police formations.
Sham
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