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23-Year-Old Sentenced to 5 Years IHL for Bicycle Theft at Nkhotakota Secondary School
Published on February 24, 2026 at 12:05 PM by Edgar Naitha
The First Grade Magistrate’s Court in Nkhotakota has convicted and sentenced a 23-year-old man, Jonathan Dalison, to five years and six months’ imprisonment with hard labour (IHL) after finding him guilty of breaking into a building and committing a felony therein.
The court heard through the State Prosecutor, Sergeant Paul Malimwe of Nkhotakota Police Station, that on the morning of February 17, 2026, Dalison broke into a storeroom belonging to Ernest Banda in Nkhotakota Secondary School campus and made away with a sports bicycle valued at K450,000.
The matter was reported to Nkhotakota Police, prompting police detectives to institute investigations.
Sergeant Malimwe further told the court that police investigations led to the arrest of the convict on the following day, February 18, 2026, and the bicycle was successfully recovered.
In his submission, the State Prosecutor asked the court to impose a stiffer punishment to deter the accused and other would-be offenders from engaging in similar crimes, noting that cases of housebreaking are on the rise in the district.
In his mitigation factors, Dalison asked for the court’s leniency, claiming to be youthful and a first offender.
However, First Grade Magistrate Flex Phaiya ruled that a custodial sentence was inevitable for him considering how the convict committed the offense.
When passing the sentence, Magistrate Phaiya stated that although the court considered the seriousness of the offense, it also took into account that the accused pleaded guilty to the charge without wasting the court’s time and resources. He therefore sentenced him to five years and six months’ imprisonment with hard labor.
Jonathan Dalison hails from Phangwa Village under Traditional Authority Malengachanzi in Nkhotakota district.
