An Upper Area Court in Gwagwalada, FCT, on Wednesday sentenced an unemployed man, Abubakar Sodiq to eight months imprisonment after he pleaded guilty to stealing a cell phone belonging to his friend.

The police charged Sodiq, who resides in Dagiri, Gwagwalada with criminal breach of trust and cheating.

The Judge, Sani Umar sentenced the convict after he begged the court for mercy.

Umar in his ruling, ordered the convict to pay a fine of N80,000.

The judge said in default of the fine, the convict would serve a jail term of eight months.

He said that the sentencing would run consecutively.

He said that this would serve as a deterrent to anyone who shares similar ideas with the convict.

He also granted the application of the Prosecution Counsel, Abdullahi Tanko that a compensation of N130,000 be paid to the nominal complainant.

Earlier, Tanko told the court that the complainant, Victor Nwabusi, reported the matter at the police station on June 5.

He said that sometime in May 2022, the convict asked to make use of the complainant’s Tecno Camon 16 cell phone worth N130,000.

He said that the convict took off with the phone and he later confessed that he sold the phone to an someone in Dei-dei, Abuja.

The prosecutor said that the offence contravened the provision of sections 311 and 322 of the Penal Code Law.

He prayed the court to grant N130,000 in damages to the nominal complainant for the cell phone.