Teen jailed for theft of laptop he reported stolen

By Wainaina Ndung’u

A Nyeri court on Thursday slapped a one-year sentence on an underage boy who went to the police to report theft of a laptop he had just stolen.

Resident Magistrate John Aringo, however, suspended the jail term against Mohamed Yusuf Mwangi by dint of his age on condition that he does not engage in a criminal act within the period.

The court heard that the 16-year-old casual labourer stole the Sh40,000 laptop belonging to petrol station attendant Pauline Wanjiru Maina at a cybercafé owned by her brother in Nyeri town on September 17.

According to a police officer who testified in the case, the accused tried to sell the laptop to a buyer in Majengo slums only for him (buyer) to allegedly turn against him and forcefully take the machine.

Corporal Ambrose Wambua told the court that the youth then decided to report the matter to Nyeri police to get the laptop back and “return it to the owner”.

Theft

Wambua told the court the accused later took him to the cybercafé and showed him how he stole the laptop from a drawer and it was only then that the shop owner learnt of the theft.

“The prosecution case is that the accused incriminated himself by going to the police after he was dispossessed the stolen laptop. The court finds that a theft of laptop was indeed committed and the accused had a hand in it,” said the magistrate.

The magistrate rejected the accused’s volte face – change of story – in court where he alleged that he was hanging around the police station and the police asked for his help only to later latch on him as the suspect.

But the magistrate set free Halima Amina Abdi, his co-accused, who it had been alleged had jointly with her husband dispossessed him of the stolen property.