A scrap metal dealer was on Thursday arraigned in a Nakuru law court to face charges of being in possession of stolen property.
Chief resident Magistrate Patrick Mwaniki was told that on January 19 this year at Baraka Metal Store in Industrial area Godwin Moturi, 56 was found in possession of 3000kgs metal material which had been vandalised from a private building owned by one Alfred Ndoria contrary to criminal provisions of the Kenyan laws.
The court heard that the accused with others who were not before the court conspired to vandalise an abandoned building and stole metal materials worth Sh80,000 in form of scrap metal which they intended to sale to metal dealers.
The prosecution desk added that the complainant upon discovering the theft of the property started carrying out investigations and discovered the metal materials that included window pens, doors and a gate at the scrap metal dealers shop were allegedly stolen by the accused.
To his defence, the dealer had claimed that he had bought the scrap metal from a relative who was demolishing his unfinished house.
However upon further investigations by police officers from Nakuru Industrial Area the materials were actually found to have been vandalised from the complainant’s premises at Gethima estate within Nakuru town.
The accused was released on a cash bail of Sh90,000 awaiting the hearing of the case on February 23 after denying the charges.