THE Chipata Magistrate’s Court has sentenced a 28-year-old man to three years and eight months imprisonment with hard labour for breaking into a house and stealing a pair of trousers valued at K250.
And an inmate has complained about the harsh environment at Namuseche correctional facility.
According to The Mast, resident magistrate Betty Mwiinga on Tuesday jailed Mohammed Baluwa after convicting him of burglary and theft.
Baluwa broke into the house of Susan Kasongo on June 12, 2022 and stole one trousers.
In mitigation, Baluwa asked for forgiveness from court, adding that he will never repeat what he did.
Magistrate Mwiinga considered the mitigation but said the offence was serious.
She said the value of what the convict stole did not matter, but that breaking into someone’s house at night was dangerous.
Magistrate Mwiinga noted that such cases were on the increase and slapped Baluwa with a 44-month jail sentence to deter would be offenders.
She also sentenced Evans Zulu to 34-month imprisonment with hard labour for a similar offence.
Zulu broke into the house of McDonald Mtine and stole a curtain worth K200 early this month.
In mitigation, Zulu told the court that life at the correctional facility was hard.
“We sleep on the floor and we don’t eat properly at the prison. Again, there are a lot of diseases and the inmates always beat each other,” he said.
But magistrate Mwiinga said she heard the mitigation by the convict that he was the first offender.
She said the court does not look at the value of the property which was stolen but the act of breaking into someone’s house at night, which is dangerous.
Magistrate Mwiinga noted that such cases were prevalent in Chipata, so there was need to deter others from committing them.