An Abuja court has convicted a woman, Blessing Mallem, for stealing purses of her two friends, Andrew Aloysius and Felicia Levi, at a birthday party.
The purses contained a Tecno cell phone worth N30,000 and N7,000 cash, according to the charge sheet.
The Karu Upper Area Court sentenced the woman residing at at Aso ‘B’, Mararba, Nasarawa State, to 10 months imprisonment for the offence, after she had pleaded guilty to the three count charge of criminal breach of trust, cheating and theft.
The trial judge, Hassan Ishaq, however, gave the convict an option of N25,000 fine.
The judge also ordered that the convict should pay N37,000 as compensation to the complainants, warning her to desist from committing crimes.
During the trial, the Prosecution Counsel, Olarewaju Osho, told the court that the complainants, Andrew Aloysius and Felicia Levi, reported the matter at the Nyanya Police Station on April 5.
Saying the offence contravened the provisions of sections 312 and 287 of the Penal Code, the prosecutor said the convict in February stole the purses at a birthday party at Emzy Garden in Nyanya, containing valuables.
The prosecution said the purses contained a Tecno cell phone, worth N30,000 and N7,000 cash.
The prosecutor also told the court that during the police investigation, the convict confessed that she sold the cell phone for N6,000 and spent the money.
