Woman to spend 15 months in jail for stealing mobile phones during church service

The Lilongwe Senior Resident Magistrate’s Court has sentenced a 26‑year‑old woman to 15 months imprisonment for stealing two mobile phones during a church service.

Magistrate Bracious Kondowe suspended the sentence for two years after Diana Josephy pleaded guilty to theft contrary to Section 271 of the Penal Code.

The court heard that on May 3 2026, Joyce Mandala went to Cross of Victory Pentecostal Church in Area 18, Lilongwe, for prayers. She placed her handbag containing an itel A100 and itel A70 valued at K950 000 on a chair.

During the service, the bag went missing. A fellow congregant said a woman in a black jacket had taken it. Mandala pursued the suspect and caught her. The handbag and phones were recovered intact.

The court considered that Josephy was a first offender, pleaded guilty early and all property was recovered. She is also a single mother of two children aged six and one year.

Magistrate Kondowe said the offence was planned and committed in a place of worship, which made it serious. But he said the mitigating factors outweighed the aggravating ones and suspended the sentence.

The court ordered Josephy to be of good conduct and not commit a similar offence for two years. She must also publicly apologise to the complainant and to the entire Cross of Victory Pentecostal Church membership during the Sunday service on May 10 2026.

Source: NPL