He was arraigned on a two-count charge of theft and criminal breach of trust.

The judge, Mr Hassan Ishaq, who handed down the verdict, said the court had no option than to sentence the accused since he had admitted committing the crime.

For his pleaded for leniency, Ishaq, however, gave him an option of N15, 000 fine and ordered the convict to pay N46, 000 as compensation to the nominal complainant.

Prosecutor Vincent Osuji had told the court that the complainant, Mrs Folasade Aiyegbusi of Kasrhi, Abuja, had on July 19 reported the incident  at Karu Police Station.

Osuji said the complainant’s car developed a mechanical fault in Karu while driving from her house and called the accused, a mechanic, to work on the car.

“The accused insisted on towing the vehicle to his workshop located at Nyanyan in Nasarawa,  a satellite town to the FCT.

“The complainant discovered that her handbag worth N14, 000 was missing from the vehicle — it contains a Samsung galaxy phone worth N150, 000,  two Nokia phones worth N18, 000, two ATM cards, one dollar debit prepaid card, a pair of eyeglasses worth N12, 000, and N18, 000 cash.”

Osuji told the court that police detectives during investigations found the missing bag in the accused’s possession, who confessed to the crime.

He said only the Samsung phone and one of the Nokia phones were recovered from him.

The offences contravened Sections 287 and 312 of the Penal Code.