Justice

Gbenro Adesina/Ibadan

Chief Magistrate, Mrs Abiola Richard at Iyaganku Magistrate court, Ibadan Wednesday sentenced one Segun Akinyele, 43, to three and half years imprisonment with hard labour for stealing a phone at the University College Hospital, UCH, Ibadan.
The phone stolen belongs to a medical medical, Dr. Kalejaiye.

‎In a charge no. MI/586c/2016, Akinleye was arraigned on a two count charge of stealing and unlawfully entering a ward at the hospital.

During the trial, the prosecutor in the case, Mr. Salewa Hammed revealed that the accused on February, 12th, 2017 at about 8.00pm at UCH , Ibadan stole Galaxy Tab III valued at N65,000 and a blackberry phone valued at N50,000.

‎The Prosecutor said the accused also unlawfully entered East 1 ward at the hospital, with the intent to commit felony on the aforementioned date and time pointing out that the offences contravened sections 390 and 412, Criminal Code Cap 38, Vol. II, Laws of Oyo State of Nigeria 2000.

While the accused pleaded guilty to count 2, he pleaded not guilty to the first count saying that he did not steal the phone, but entered the premises only to charge his phone.

To press home his charge, the prosecutor called three witnesses: Dr. Kalejaye, Dr. Oluwande Olufajo and Dr. David Kolawole from the emergency department of UCH to testify against the accused person.

In his statement, Dr. Kolawole told the court that before the accused was eventually caught, there has been several cases of stolen phones in the ward with some of the cases reported at the appropriate quarters.

He confirmed that ‎the accused person was found at the emergency department of the hospital where he claimed to have come to charge his handset.

The medical doctor who worked at the East 1 on the said day told the court that on that faithful day he was called to attend to a patient who was dying and needed urgent attention and that he left his phone in the doctor’s room which has a mini entrance supposedly to be for doctors only but that within 10 minutes that he went back to the doctors room, he could not find his phone where he was charging it.