A worshipper from the Nairobi Chapel on Ngong Road was sentenced to three years behind bars over the theft of valuables worth Kshs110,000 from an office on the premises.

Joseph Kamau Ndung’u was handed the penalty by senior principal magistrate Esther Bhoke of Kibera law courts without the option of paying a fine after the magistrate expressed her dissatisfaction with the probation report tabled before her that ruled out any possibility of a non-custodial sentence.

Ndung'u admitted that he indeed broke into a container at the church and committed the theft after a Sunday Service making away with a laptop and accessories belonging to Rodgers Koome Kinyua, a sound technician at the church. He also stole Ksh 200 and an umbrella that the sound technician had kept in his laptop bag.

He proceeded to sell the items consisting of the laptop, hard disk drives, and a pair of earphones at a throwaway price of Kshs7,000.

Kinyua who was at the moment not in the office when the theft took place, was caught off guard when he found that his items were missing. He frantically asked the security guard on duty whether he had witnessed any suspicious activity, and reported that he indeed saw a man leave the office with the bag but assumed that he was a staffer and let him go his way.

Upon review of the CCTV footage of the premises, Ndung'u was captured taking the bag and leaving the church.

The matter was then reported and a search began. 

Ndung'u on Sunday, May 15 ensnared himself when he made his way to the church donned in the same outfit he was wearing when he stole the items as police were immediately called in to arrest him, only for him to be arraigned in court the next day and have the sentence slapped on him.