The Trongsa District Court has sentenced a 23-year-old man from Yoedseltse in Samtse to one year in prison for malicious mischief. Another man, from Kabesa in Thimphu, was convicted in the same case.
The 52-year-old man was given a five-month prison sentence for failing to report the crime. But he has already spent five months in jail during the investigation period. Thus, the court ruled he will not have to serve the prison sentence given to him.
The court passed its judgement last Tuesday.
The Office of the Attorney General (OAG) had actually charged the main convict with burglary, but the court altered the charge to malicious mischief.
There is no concrete evidence to prove the man stole money from the house the two convicts broke into in February, justified the court.
The court also stated the people from whose home he apparently stole money failed to report to the court to confirm the theft despite repeated summons.
Though the men committed the crime together, the court said the OAG unfairly charged one with burglary, while other only faced a charge of failure to report the crime.
The OAG maintains they have enough evidence to prove the charge of burglary and added it is discussing whether to appeal to a higher court or not.
