A woman who allegedly stole a loaf of bread, assorted pads, three packets of milk, a packet of sausages, among other items, all valued at Sh1, 487 from a city supermarket has been charged with theft.
Ms Lucy Wangui alias Martha Mumbi Mbuthia appeared before the Makadara Law Courts to answer to charges of stealing the said items at the Quickmart Supermarket Embakasi branch on September 3, 2023 contrary to section 268 (1) as read with section 275 of the Penal Code.
The suspect was also charged with handling stolen goods contrary to section 322 (2) of the Penal Code where she is accused of dishonestly retaining the items she had allegedly stolen in the course of stealing them, believing or having reasons to believe them to be stolen property.
On the said date, the accused visited the retail outlet around 3am. She later pushed her trolley past the cashiers and left without paying and proceeded to the parking where she had parked her car and started loading the items into the car.
The supermarket’s administrator and security guards followed her to the parking lot and asked her for a receipt to prove she had paid for the items.
She gave a receipt for a shopping she had done two weeks earlier and was escorted back into the supermarket together with the items.
The administrator called officers from Embakasi Police Station who arrested here and recovered the items in the trolley.
The suspect denied the charges before Senior Principal Magistrate Hellen Okwani of the Makadara Law Courts and claimed that a disagreement ensued between her and the supermarket staff after they told her to pay for items in question. She sought lenient bail and bond terms.
Prosecution counsel Remmy Mwandawiro dismissed her plea for lenient bail and bond terms saying she has two similar cases pending in the court.
Ms Okwani remanded the accused and ordered for a pre-bail report to be presented in court on September 22, 2023 when the case will be mentioned.
Police took pictures of the items to be used as exhibits and requested orders to return them to the retailer. The supermarket’s administrator Benard Okundi, who saw Ms Wangui leaving before making payments for the items, is listed as the main witness in the case.
Ms Wangui was in April this year charged at the same court with stealing food items worth Sh4,539 from the same supermarket on April 19, 2023.
On May 30, the accused person, who lives in the neighbouring Nyayo estate, was again charged at the same court with stealing foodstuff and groceries worth Sh10,474 from Naivas Supermarket Embakasi branch.
