Student sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison for robbing 3 banks and a work place

A student who was arrested and taken to court in Lefkosa for robbing 3 banks and a work place has been sentenced to 4 and a half years in prison.

The court verdict against the defendant was delivered on Tuesday, March, 9.

He was taken to a court in Lefkosa on charges of "opening of a building", "deliberate damage" and "property infringement" and also accused of stealing 4 thousand Euros, 8 thousand 500 pounds and 4 thousand 600 US dollars.

The accused, a 29-year-old Nigerian committed the crimes in September, October and November 2020.

According to police report at the time of the incident, the accused broke the door of a bank and telephone operator shop in Lefkosa on September, 26, 2020 with the aid of an iron cutting tool where he reportedly took away two checks worth £ 5,000 each. 

In another operation, the accused reportedly broke the padlock on the main entrance of the aluminum door of a Teknocell phone shop at Kemal Asik Street in Lefkosa and also deliberately and unlawfully broke a 240x 210cm in 5 +5 Lameks safety glass of a bank, worth $300 with a iron cutting tool at his disposal.

He was also accused of breaking into two other banks. 

The police said the accused was identified and arrested in Famagusta on October, 2, 2020 after examining the security camera records.  

The police stated that the accused confessed to the crimes and admitted that his family was very poor and that he would commit similar crimes if he was released because he had no power to read.  

Police said their investigation into the matter also revealed that the accused sent some of the money he stole to his family in Nigeria to help his mother who was connected to a machine and also paid his tuition fee.  

The court judge who acknowledged that the defendant's mother was dependent on him said in order to prevent such a crime in the future, the defendants need to be given a serious penalty and thereby sentenced him to 4 and a half years in prison.