of his actions and has fully cooperated with the prosecution and this
Honourable Court.
In penance also, the Accused has taken steps to start repayment of the
amounts to the Petitioner. His employers have been deducting the sum of
N40,000 from his salary monthly. The Accused is also a family man with
three kids of tender age and a loving wife who are dependent on him. The
children in particular will require parental guidance and support in their
formative years.
The accused is also a public servant in the Ministry of Internal Affairs and
that is his only means of livelihood which he uses to cater for his family and
dependants.
It is human to err but divine to forgive. It is within my lords powers to take a
liberal view of the sentencing and fine the Accused accordingly.
Ndubueze: We don’t have any evidence of previous conviction. We also
want to confirm that the Accused has already taken steps to repay the
amount obtained from the Petitioner. We also want to state that the
Accused has shown remorse and taken responsibility for his actions. We
urge the court to sentence him on liberal terms.
SENTENCE
I have carefully considered the plea for mitigated sentence as brilliantly
articulated by learned counsel to the Accused Person above. I have
similarly carefully considered the response of learned counsel to the
Prosecution.
It is of interest to note that the prosecution has been impressed by the
penitent disposition of the Accused from the commencement of the
investigation and therefore are similarly on the same page with the counsel
to the Accused that the count shows leniency towards the Accused Person
on the issue of sentencing.
Let me state at the outset that I am enthused by the submissions on both
sides of the aisle. In considering these submissions, I am obviously to be
guided by the clear provisions of the law which provides the punishment for
the offence charge. The punishment under Section 322 of the Penal
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