Mr Albert Maga, Presiding Judge, Grade 1 Area Court, Aso Pada, on Thursday paid N700 fine on behalf of a labourer, Victor Emmanuel, 18, sentenced for theft of cell phone.

The judge had sentenced the convict to four years imprisonment for criminal trespass and theft of a Blackberry Curve 7 cell phone.

The judge gave the judgment after the accused pleaded guilty to the two-count charge preferred against him.

Maga, however, gave the convict an option of N700 fine.

The judge, out of compassion, paid the N700 fine for the accused and urged him to repent and get close to God.

Earlier, the nominal complainant, Jude Mba, 26, a hotelier, told the court that on April 13, he was charging his Blackberry cell phone in his hotel room and slept off.

“I heard sound of noise and I opened my eyes.

“I saw the accused making call and entering the room; I went back to sleep again.

“When I woke up, I could not find my phone again and I reported the matter to the police,” he said.

The convict, a resident of Aso, Mararaba, was arraigned on April 16 for criminal trespass and theft.

On the same date, the prosecutor, PC Friday Adaji, told the court that on April 13, Mba of Morning Star Guest Inn, Aso Pada, lodged complaints against the accused at the Aso Pada Police Station.

He said the convict was later arrested with the cell phone in Aso Pada by the police.

The convict had pleaded guilty to the charges and begged the court for leniency.