A 12-year-old boy, (names withheld), was on Thursday sentenced to 12 strokes of the cane by a Grade 1 Area Court in Karu, Federal Capital Territory, for stealing a mobile phone valued at N8, 500.
The presiding judge, Malam Hassan Ishaq, found the minor guilty of two counts of trespass and theft.
The judge sentenced the minor after he pleaded guilty to the charges.
He also ordered him to cut the grass around the court premises, and advised the convict to be of good behaviour.
Ishaq also advised the boy’s parents, who were present in court to train him properly.
Inspector Silas Nanpan, the prosecutor had told the court that a neighbour of the convict, Phillip Boniface, reported the crime at Nyanya Police Station on April 22.
He said that the boy entered the complainant’s room and stole the phone while he was sleeping.
The prosecutor further revealed that the phone was recovered from the convict during police investigation.
Nanpan informed the court that the offence was punishable in the Penal Code.
