Nairobi News

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Street dancers jailed for three months for stealing cellphone


Two street dancers and their accomplice who pleaded guilty to charges of stealing a mobile phone from a businessman outside Kipande House along Kenyatta Avenue will pay a fine of Sh20,000 or serve a three months’ jail term.

William Omanga Osonko, Wilson Mwita and Kanyaru Kavaya were sentenced on Wednesday by Senior Principal Magistrate Bernard Ochoi of the Milimani Law Courts.

They admitted stealing businessman Kennedy Mickson Orinda’s phone worth Sh10,500 on July 27, 2020 in broad daylight.

Orinda was making a call when Osonko grabbed his phone and took off together with Mwita.

Orinda raised an alarm and members of public and boda boda riders gave chase and caught Osonko outside Hilton Hotel.

The suspect was taken to Central Police Station where during interrogation he said he had given the phone to Mwita, who later traced and arrested. The phone was however not recovered.

In mitigation, Mwita said the county government denied them a living by banning street performances which earned them money from spectators.

The complainant had sought to withdraw the case but the magistrate turned down the application, saying similar crimes have become rampant within the CBD.