Court discharges applicant charged with theft

iyebiye olawuyi

April 24, 2017 4:32 PM

He said the complainant had told the prosecutor to withdrawal the matter because he did not want any further trouble

Court gavel

An Abuja Area Court in Lugbe on Monday discharged a 20-year-old applicant, Precious Simon, charged with stealing gold necklace.

The Judge, Mr Garba Ogbede, discharged the defendant following an application by the prosecuting counsel, Ukoha Ndidi, who prayed the court to discharge the case because the parties had settled out of court.

Ogbede said “having heard the prosecution’s application to discharge the case as a result of settlement reached by both parties in the matter, the case is hereby struck out.”

He said the complainant had told the prosecutor to withdrawal the matter because he did not want any further trouble with the defendant.

He added that “the is hereby struck out and the defendant discharged."

“The defendant is also discharged of all criminal charges.”

At the resumed hearing, the prosecutor informed the court that the complainant told her to withdraw the case because he had forgiven the defendant.

Simon of Nyanya Mararaba in Nasarawa State, was accused of stealing gold necklace valued N200,000 sometime in 2016.

Earlier, Ndidi had told the court that the defendant stole gold necklace valued N200,000 belonging to Mr Stephen Igbinosun’s wife and escaped to unknown destination.

The prosecuting counsel said that during police investigation, Simon could not give satisfactory account of the said gold, a crime that contravened Section 288 of the Penal Code.

Simon, however, denied the allegation.

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