Before Siavonga magistrate Edward Banda was Cholwe Changachanga of Kaleya Compound who was charged with a count of theft contrary to the Laws of Zambia.
The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge when he took a plea in court February.
It was alleged that on October 14, 2016 around 03:00 hours, Changachanga stole a Samsung Note 4 cellphone worth K5,000 from Miyoba Samanyanga at an accident scene.
The court heard that Changachanga stole the cellphone from Samanyangwa who was involved in a road accident near Manchinchi junction, which is about seven kilometers from Siavonga Central Business Area.
The victim was driving home after knocking off from his Legacy Night Club Bar when his vehicle overturned on Siavonga-Lusaka road.
Changachanga who was sleeping at the time of the accident rushed outside after he heard a loud bang a few metres from his house.
It was allegedly that instead of helping Samanyanga, Changachanga, he decided to steal his cellphone and some undisclosed amount of US dollar notes and left the scene.
In mitigation, the accused said he was a breadwinner and asked the court to forgive him.
But magistrate Banda said Changachanga’s action was not only criminal but morally wrong.
He said it was very wrong to steal from a dead or dying person as Changachanga was expected to care for Samanyanga who was dying at the accident scene and not to go for his valuables.
Magistrate Banda said because of this, he had decided to jail Changachanga for 12 months with hard labour so that he could learn a lesson that even stealing from a dying or dead person was a serious offence
