A casual labourer has been handed a three-year jail term by a Nakuru court after he was found guilty of stealing 36 kilogrammes of beans.
36-year-old Duncan Maritim admitted committing the offence on August 22 this year at Kianyoncha village in Nakuru.
“The court, having considered the investigations conducted by the prosecution and the accused being a first offender leniently sentences the accused to three years in prison,” said Senior Principal Magistrate Felix Kombo during the ruling.
Maritim had pleaded guilty to stealing the cereals, which he was found selling at a nearby shopping centre.
The court heard that Maritim was seen selling the beans to unknown people before a villager rushed and informed the owner, Samson Yatich.
The accused, the court heard, took advantage of the absence of the owner to steal the food.
Maritim told the court that he was forced by hunger and the difficult economic times to commit the crime as he has a young family he was fending for.
The magistrate also cautioned people from engaging in theft of foods and crops from farms. He said anybody found culpable of such an offence risked a hefty punishment.
“Theft of farm produce should be shunned and the only way to do this is to deal with culprits decisively,” he warned.