By CHILA NAMAIKO –
A FIFTY-FIVE-year-old man has been sentenced to four years imprisonment by the Choma Magistrate’s Court for breaking into a Seventh Day Adventist (SDA) Church where he stole property valued at K1,500.
Madison Maambo of Mwapona Township in Choma was charged with breaking into a building with intent to commit a felony.
On February 13, this year, Maambo broke into Mwapona SDA church and stole 16 cups, 12 plates, a bucket, 10 spoons, two dishes and a bowl.
Other items include a washing basin, a hoe, nine curtains, two flags, two bags of cement, a bag of charcoal, a shovel, a wheelbarrow and a drum all valued at K1,501.
Evidence on record was that on February 12, this year, around 18:00 hours, Mwapona SDA church was secured but the following day around 06:00 hours, a caretaker, Oneck Mudenda, found the door to the church’s toilet damaged and removed from the wall.
Mr Mudenda later inspected the church building and discovered that some property was missing.
He informed other caretakers about the missing items, who later, traced tracks of a wheelbarrow which was used to ferry the stolen property from the church.
The wheelbarrow tracks led the caretakers to Maambo’s residence.
The matter was then reported to Choma Central Police station and subsequently the arrest of Maambo.
After further investigations, property worth K1,140 was recovered from Maambo.
When the matter came up for ruling on Wednesday before Magistrate Mbololwa Mukela, Maambo, a second offender, in his mitigation, asked for leniency.
But Ms Mukela regretted the high number of cases of people stealing from churches and sent Maambo to jail.
“To deter would be offenders, I sentence you to 48 months imprisonment with hard labour upon confirmation from the High Court,” she said.