By Staff Reporter

The Principal Resident Magistrate court sitting in Mangochi on 6 January 2023, acquitted Frank Blake and Kelvin Igweche, of the offense of Fraudulent Appropriation of Water.

The two accused persons in the matter were employees of a water packaging company in Mangochi and the offense alleged to have been committed is contrary to Section 298 A of the Penal Code.

It was heard in court that in the month of November 2022, on a routine check by officials from Water Board, an illegal connection bypassing the Water Board meter was discovered on the company’s premises. The Water Board officials reported the matter to the police which led to the arrest of Blake and Igweche who were working as a Manager and Machine Operator respectively.

The accused persons sought service from the Legal Aid Bureau and during the trial, the State paraded four witnesses in order to prove the charges against the two.

At the end of the prosecution’s case, the court ruled that there was no sufficient evidence that linked the two accused persons to the offense as charged.

Legally aided Frank Blake and Kelvin Igweche were found with no case to answer and were therefore set free.

*Source: Legal Aid Bureau Malawi*