THE TEMA Circuit Court �A� has sentenced three robbers to 105 years in prison in hard labour on seven counts of conspiracy and robbing workers of Engineering Company Limited.
The three robbers were said to have armed themselves with a G-3 rifle, pistol and three sharp cutlasses with which they attacked workers as well as customers and robbed them of their laptops, mobile phones, a camera, a wristwatch, wallets and an unspecified amount of money.
The robbers embarked on the operation with four accomplices who are now at large.
The three robbers- Romeo Kpodo, 27, an ex-security guard, Sefa Agley alias Sly, 29, a manager and Ibrahim Abdulai, 22, welder- are all residents of Ashaiman.
The three pleaded not guilty to the charges when they appeared in court but the court found them guilty, saying that they were inconsistent in their evidence and as such they could not be trusted.
The court also indicated that all evidence provided by prosecution showed that the three had robbed the company.
Mrs. Lorinda Owusu, who presided over the court, gave them a minimum sentence of fifteen years on each count as she wanted to be lenient with them.
The first accused, Romeo, was given an additional fifteen years for possessing a G-3 rifle without lawful authority. The sentences will run concurrently.
The facts, as presented by prosecution in court, led by Chief Inspector Stanley Dzapkasu, are that on August 13, 2008, at about 9 am, the three robbers and their other accomplices met at a ghetto near Ashaiman market and agreed to rob the company located at Light Industrial Area, Community 9, Tema.
At about 2:30pm the same day, seven men including the three accused persons, armed with the items mentioned above, went to the company with the intent to transact business while workers were busily going about their duties.
The armed men immediately ordered the workers and customers to lie down which they obliged. The robbers, according to the prosecutor, started beating them. They searched and took away mobile phones, money, laptop computer, digital camera, wristwatch and other items belonging to the staffs and bolted.
But as they were leaving in their Peugeot 505 with registration number GR 3220 A, a witness in the case hired a taxi and chased them.
The witness, on reaching Tema Motorway roundabout, informed policemen who were on duty at the time and they sought assistance from another witness whose car they boarded and continued the chase to Tema Golf City.
At a stage, the robbers opened fire on the policemen who also returned fire. The robbers, sensing danger, sped off but the police continued to chase them.
The accused persons abandoned their car on reaching Bethlehem and took to their heels but they were arrested with the help of some passersby.
A search on the car revealed aG-3 rifle loaded with eight rounds of ammunitions, a licence plate with number GR 7386 C, three wallets belonging to some of the victims, 26 wrappers of substances suspected to be cocaine and other stolen items.
The three were taken to the police station where they admitted to the offence during interrogation while the injured victims were rushed to the hospital.
The three were slapped with the sentence after a three-year trial.
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