Five notorious criminals, who conspired and stole electronic gadgets and cash belonging to a 64-year-old retired civil servant, have been sentenced to a total of 50 years’ imprisonment with hard labour by the Wa Circuit Court.
The convicts are Rahim Ibrahim, 24, Salifu Sherif, 23, Sadat Siedu Guonaa, 25, Abdul Rahaman Fatawu, 23, and Aloya Amadeus, 20.
A sixth person, known only as Haadi, alias Kukere is, however, at large.
Each of them will serve 10 years in jail.
Charges and pleadings
They were charged with unlawful entry, stealing and dishonestly receiving stolen property, comprising a Dell laptop, iphone, 51-inch flat-screen coloured television set, electronic pointer, external hard drives, pen drives and cash of GH¢8,170.00
With the exception of Sadat who pleaded guilty, the others pleaded not guilty, but the court found them guilty after a full trial.
Facts
Prosecuting, the Assistant State Attorney in charge of the Upper West Region, Mr Abdul Shakur Saeed, told the court that following a tip-off on June 5, 2015, that Salifu was in possession of a 51-inch flat-screen TV which observers believed he could not own, the police moved in to search his room during which they took possession of the item.
He said Salifu, when interrogated, stated that the item was sold to him by Rahim.
However, when Rahim was arrested, he mentioned Haadi as the one who gave it to him, but refused to lead the police for his arrest.
In the course of investigation, Mr Saeed said the police had another tip-off that Sadat was also in possession of a Dell laptop computer suspected to have been stolen.
When Sadat was arrested, he mentioned Rahaman and Aloya as those who gave it to him and a search then led to the retrieval of the rest of the items.
Mr Saeed said after retrieving the items, the police made a public announcement that they were in possession of the items and that anybody who had lost such items should come and identify them.
Based on the announcement, the victim of the theft, who had earlier reported it at the Wa Municipal Police Station, went to identify the items.
Sentence
Passing sentence, Mr Justice Kwasi Boakye, a High Court judge sitting as an additional Circuit Court judge, described the convicts as very cruel and a bad example to society, emphasising that “they should be kept away for a long period.”
He added that steps should to be taken to assure peace-loving citizens of their safety at all times, considering the rising trend of crime in the community.
Source: Daily Graphic
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