Eight persons have been slapped with 160 years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court for robbing a trader and his family of GH¢27,000 and other valuables at Atraco, East Legon, in the Greater Accra Region.
The convicts, Michael McCarthy -1st Accused and Richmond Kwadwo Sarpong, both drivers’ mates, Bright Akaminku, aka Rasta, Abubakar Sadik and Joe Ofori, all traders, Abass Baba, Ibrahim Alhassan, all auto mechanics, as well as Abugri Osuman, unemployed, subjected their victims to severe beatings, after which they made away with their three mobile phones, jewelries and cash of GH¢27,000.
They had earlier pleaded not guilty to two charges of conspiracy to commit crime and robbery leveled against them and they were subsequently convicted after a full trial. The court, presided over by Justice Francis Obiri, sentenced them to 10 and 20 years for conspiracy and robbery respectively, to run concurrently in hard labour.
Meanwhile, their two other accomplices, Yunus Abdul Hamid Mubarak, fashion designer and Ahmed Aminu, driver’s mate, who were charged with dishonestly receiving were acquitted and discharged by the court.
Facts Complainant Ebenezer Kofi Odei Bediako is a trader and resident of Atraco in East Legon, Accra. Michael, Richmond, Rasta, Abubakar, Joe, Baba, Ibrahim as well as Abugri are friends who live in Tema and Ashiaman, whilst Mubarak and Aminu, currently at large, are also friends who live in Tema. For some time now, the eight accused persons have been attacking people at Atraco, Zoomlion, Adenta, Madina and its environs, and robbing them of their valuables.
On January 1, 2015, at about 2:00 am, the complainant and his family were asleep in their house when the accused persons broke into their room, attacked them at gun point, subjected them to severe beatings and robbed them of their three mobile phones, jewelries and cash of GH¢27,000.
The complainant later reported the case to the Police and acting upon intelligence they managed to track the user of the stolen mobile phone and arrested Mubarak. When questioned, he mentioned Aminu as the person who sold the phone to him at GH¢570, leading to the arrest of Aminu, who also revealed that it was Michael and Richmond who sold same and a tablet to him at the cost of GH¢700.
Based on his lead, Michael and Richmond were traced to their hideouts and arrested and upon interrogation, Michael confessed to the robbery and mentioned the others as his accomplices. Rasta, Abubakar, Joe, Baba, Ibrahim and Abugri were as a result picked up and when a search was conducted on them, 17 live cartridges were found on Rasta, while a face mask was found in the custody of Abugri.
A pump action gun was retrieved from Ibrahim and one of the stolen mobile phones was also found on Joe. When interrogated, Baba revealed that he received GH¢400 as his share of the booty from Michael, but denied that he took part in the robbery. Whilst investigation was on going, on January 20, 2015, an identification parade was conducted, during which Baba was identified by one of the victims. After investigations, they were charged with the offence and made to appear before the honourable court.
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