This archive report was first published on 13 January 2020.
Published on January 13, 2020, a Nairobi court heard a peculiar case of phone theft. Peter Wekesa, a first-time offender, pleaded guilty to stealing three phones from a beauty and massage parlour in Nairobi's central business district.
According to court papers, Wekesa checked into the parlour and requested the three women to polish his toe nails. He was given sandals to wear while they worked on him.
At some point, Wekesa excused himself to answer a call of nature, but unknown to the women, he had picked their phones, which were lying on a shelf, and vanished.
The three women tried calling their phones but they had been switched off. They reported the theft to police and after a while, Wekesa was spotted within the area, prompting the women to make a citizen arrest.
Wekesa pleaded guilty, saying he regrets the offense and begging for leniency. He claimed that the phones were carelessly kept, tempting him to steal.
The court directed that a probation report on his social lifestyle be made by the probation office to help the court determine an appropriate sentence for the first-time offender.
