Man gets four years for breaking into neighbours house

A 41-YEAR-OLD man in Kitwe will spend four years in prison for stealing paint and roofing sheets from his neighbour.

Kennedy Mhango was sent to the correctional facility by Senior Resident Magistrate Owen Mwansa Chibalo for breaking into his neighbour’s house where he stole building materials.

Mhango had broken into Richard Mtonga’s house and stole 20 litres of paint and four iron sheets, together valued at K1,820.

He committed the offence on September 10 last year.

Mr Chibalo said he expected better from a man of Mhango’s calibre who should have been his neighbour’s keeper unlike tearing him down.

The magistrate said the stolen items were recovered from the house Mhango’s girlfriend who lives in Natwange, near Mtonga.

The accused was spotted carrying the stolen items and securing them in his girlfriend’s house by three people in the neighbourhood.

Mr Chibalo said evidence showed that Mhango stole out of selfishness and that he had been living with his girlfriend in the same neighbourhood as Mhango, the magistrate observed, had studied Mr Mtonga’s movements and hence found it easy to break into his house.

In mitigation, Mhango said his stay at Kamfinsa Correctional Facility had been a life changing experience as he had met Jesus Christ and become a born again Christian through the prison fellowship.

He pleaded to be spared from jail sentence as he would like a chance to preach to the Gospel to the outside world.

Mhango also said he was a married man with four children who have since stopped school due to his incarceration and therefore pleaded for maximum lenience.

However, Mr Chibalo sentenced him to four years imprisonment with hard labour.