23-year old, Segun Bankole, has been sentenced to two and half years imprisonment by the Ebute Meta Magistrate’s Court, after pleading guilty to two counts of stealing.
He was said to have been apprehended by a passerby at Iganmu Bridge area of Lagos State after snatching an LG X330T phone valued at N15, 000, from one Ezeani Cynthia.
The police said Bankole admitted to committing the crime together with another suspect who is now at large.
The prosecutor, Inspector George Nwosu, said the accused led the police to the scene of the crime with the hope of apprehending his accomplice, but he was not found.
He said, “On July 16, 2013 at 8pm, at Iganmu Bridge in Lagos State, one Mrs Ezeanu Cynthia was passing on the road when Bankole and one other person presently at large accosted and snatched her LGX330 T handset.
“In the process of escaping, they were pursued by a passerby, Nkwocha Patrick, based on the alarm raised by Cynthia. Having arrested the defendant, he was taken to Iponri Police Station where he confessed to the crime.
The magistrate, Mr. T. Abolarinwa, said the defendant deserved to be kept away from society, having confessed to serving an earlier term in Kirikiri Maximum Prison.
Abolarinwa said, “One does not need to be a sorcerer or a prophet to know that stealing has become part and parcel of his life.
“The right thing to do is to keep him away from society so that he will not be able to corrupt society and also reduce the stress in combating crime.
“Maybe in detention, the spirit of God will change him.”
Abolarinwa, thereafter, convicted Bankole of the charges and sentenced him to two and half years in prison.