Student sentenced to 3 years in prison for theft in north Cyprus

A student has been sentenced to three years in prison by a north Cyprus court after he was found guilty of theft.

The sentence against the defendant, named only as O.E, a Nigerian was delivered by the Kyrenia High Criminal Court on Wednesday, Dec., 2023.

The incident happened on the midnight of August, 2, 2022 and was arrested on August, 29.

The court judge said that the defendants, O.E, O.K and an unidentified person met with another Nigerian in front of a workplace on Bedrettin Demirel Street in Lefkosia to exchange Bitcoin.

The judge said, the victim told the defendants that the bitcoin that were said to be transferred to his account were not received and therefore he could not give them the money they requested but the defendants instead forcefully stole 10,000 TL and 3 USBs from the backseat of the victim's vehicle. 

The judge said the victim went after the defendants who tried to run away but they attacked him and injured his thumb on his right hand.

The judge said the defendant, O.E was identified and arrested after the incident but the other 2 people could not be found as they already left the country during the period of investigation.

The judge said it was also determined that the defendant O.E had no residence permit in the TRNC from 2020 until he was captured on August 29, 2022.

The judge stated that the crime of robbery for which the defendant is being tried is one of the serious and grave crimes that tend to become widespread in the country.

The judge stated that they evaluated the aggravating and mitigating factors when sentencing the defendant and stated that they evaluated the fact that victim's wife and one and a 3 months old baby were in the car when the incident occurred and that the crime tended to become widespread. 

The judge said that they considered the defendant's compensation for the victim's damages and the withdrawal of the complaint by the victim as mitigating factors.

Emphasizing that the crime of robbery is one of the types of crimes that disturb the society, the judge announced that they sentenced the defendant to 3 years in prison.