News

2 drivers, mate jailed 51 years …for armed robbery

The Juaben Circuit Court in the Ashanti Region has sentenced two drivers and a driver’s mate to a total of 51 years imprisonment in hard labour for robbing a Senior High School (SHS)student at Onwe, near Ejisu also in the Ashanti Region, of his personal belongings.

The three would each serve 17 years in jail.

The convicts, Michael KwakuPenya, driver’s mate, 23,Kwadwo Apraku, driver, 23 and Robert Kwame Mensah, driver, 22, were sentenced on their own pleas of guilty to two charges of conspiracy to commit crime to wit robbery and robbery, contrary to sections 23(1) and 149 of the Criminal Offences Act 29/60 and contrary to section 149 of the Criminal Offences Act 29/60 respectively.

They were sentenced to 15 and 17 years imprisonment on count one and count two respectively. However, the sentences are to run concurrently.

Pronouncing the sentence, the judge, Rosemarie Afua Asante, considered the fact that the convicts were young people and first time offenders with no criminal records.

However, she said she took into consideration the rampant rate of crimes perpetrated against the students and the members of the community. 

Presenting the facts of the case, Inspector Rebecca Sedufia, the prosecutor, said KwakuPenya lived at Odaho, both Robert Kwame Mensah and KwadwoApraku lived at Onwe.

On September 11, 2022,she said, at about 9:30pm, the convicts ambushed the victim, the complainant in the case, and dispossessed him of his iphone 6x mobile phone valued at GHȼ650.00 and cash of GHȼ95.00.

On that fateful day the victim was attacked, he was returning home after private studies at the school, and on reaching a section of the road, the convicts who were hiding in a nearby bush accosted him, gagged him and dragged him to a hideout.

They,then, subjected the victim to severe torture before forcibly snatching his mobile phone and taking his money, abandoned him and bolted.

Complainant shouted for help, drawing the attention of some people who came to his rescue and took him to the Onwe Police Station where a formal complaint was lodged and a police medical form issued to him to seek treatment at the hospital.

The convicts told police investigators that they sold the mobile phone to someone at PZ at the Adum business district in Kumasi at a reduced price of GHȼ250.00, but they failed to identify the person to the police.

According to Inspector Sedufia, prior to the arrest of the convicts, there had been series of robbery incidents on the students of Onwe SHS, but efforts to arrest the perpetrators to face the law proved futile.

The prosecutor said the convicts in their separate cautioned statements to the police admitted to the offence.
FROM KINGSLEY E.HOPE,KUMASI



Show More
Back to top button