Churchgoer: I stole from Nairobi Chapel to buy food, pay my rent arrears

A man who broke into an office at the Nairobi Chapel Church along Ngong Road and stole a laptop and accessories worth Sh110,000 is awaiting sentencing after pleading guilty to charges of office breaking and theft.

Appearing before Senior Principal Magistrate Esther Bhoke of Kibera law courts, Joseph Kamau Ndung’u admitted to the charges that he broke into a container at the church and committed theft.

Ndung’u committed the theft after attending service at the church.

He stole a laptop and accessories belonging to Rodgers Koome Kinyua, a sound technician at the church.

Ndung’u also stole Sh200 in cash and an umbrella that Kinyua had kept in the laptop bag.

Find the bag missing

The convict later sold the items including the laptop, a pair of earphones, and hard disk drives among others for Sh7,000.

Kinyua had left the items in the office while visiting another office when Ndung’u stole them. He returned to find the bag missing.

A security guard told Kinyua that he had seen a man leave the office with a bag but he thought he was a staffer and did not, therefore, bother him.

CCTV footage at the premises was reviewed where Ndung’u was captured leaving the premises with the bag.

The court heard that Ndung’u was spotted inside the church during the service on May 15 dressed in the same clothes he was wearing when he stole the items as captured on the CCTV.

Police officers were called in and arrested him inside the church.

Ndung’u pleaded for leniency claiming his wife and mother solely depend on him.

He said he stole the items to sell them to settle rent arrears and buy food for his family.

Bhoke ordered a social inquiry of the convict before sentencing him on Friday, May 20.