THE theft of two chickens and toothpaste has landed a teenage adult in jail to serve a five-year sentence. Lawrence Mulevu, 19, of Soweto Township in Lusaka, was jailed for breaking into a house from which he stole two dressed chickens, toothpaste and other properties, all worth over K4,000. Particulars are that on May 12, 2019, Mulevu broke into Noah Kabamba’s house from which he stole the chickens, two tubes of toothpaste, 5 litres of cooking oil and K3,000 cash, all valued at K4,561.

Mulevu pleaded guilty to the charge when he appeared before Lusaka Magistrate Nsunge Chanda. On Thursday, the matter came up for facts and sentencing. Evidence before the court had it that on May 12, 2019 Mr Kabamba locked his house in George Township before he left for work around 18:00 hours. The following morning around 03:00, Mr Kabamba’s landlord telephoned him and informed him that criminals had broken into his house through the roof. He rushed back to his house and found the door and locks to his apartment intact. But when he got in, he found several goods missing. When he checked around, he found Mulevu hiding behind a shelf.

Mr Kabamba got hold of Mulevu and a mob which was outside pounced on the burglar. Mr Kabamba took Mulevu to George Police Station where he was interviewed in connection with the charge. He admitted committing the offence. In mitigation, Mulevu pleaded for leniency because if sent to jail, his siblings will suffer. But magistrate Chanda said the offence Mulevu committed is grave, especially that he committed it at a time when people were asleep. “People work hard and they should fail to sleep because of people like you? You’re a dangerous criminal because if the people you go to steal from [at night] wake up, you can kill them,” Ms Nsunge said. She said the court needs to punish people like Mulevu. “If left unchecked, this will worsen, so I sentence you to five years imprisonment with hard labour with ef