An Accra circuit court Monday sentenced two persons to a total of 60 years in prison for engaging in robbery.
Joshua Mensah and Godwin Kwame Worlali Agbesi were charged with conspiracy to rob and robbery.
They pleaded not guilty to the charges, but after the trial the court, presided over by Mr Francis Obiri, found them guilty and sentenced them accordingly.
They were each sentenced to a 20-year jail term for conspiracy and 30 years for robbery.
The sentences are to run concurrently.
In pronouncing judgement, Mr Obiri said robbery was on the increase in the country, hence the need to weed out such miscreants from society.
He said it was also to serve as a deterrent to persons who thought robbery was a lucrative job.
Facts of the case
Prosecuting, Chief Superintendent E. Afful said the complainant was a taxi driver living at Dansoman, while Mensah and Agbesi were a coconut seller and a labourer living at Bubiashie and North Kaneshie, respectively.
About 10 p.m. on March 22, 2014, the complainant, who was driving a Daewoo Matrix taxi, with registration number GS 3379-12, within the Accra metropolis was stopped by the convicted persons.
He said the complainant was hired to take them to the Tesano bungalows from the North Industrial Area.
In the course of the journey, Mensah, who sat in front, pulled a pair of scissors from his pocket and stabbed the complainant on the chin, injuring him instantly, while Agbesi, who was seated at the back, pulled a machete and commanded the complainant to surrender his sales and his mobile phone.
Mensah succeeded in collecting GH�65 and a Nokia mobile phone from the complainant and gave the money to Agbesi to keep.
Both Mensah and Agbesi further subjected the complainant to beatings and ordered him to stop.
They alighted and took to their heels.
The complainant, however, raised an alarm and with the assistance of a patrol team the convicted persons were arrested.
Mensah, in the course of investigations, told the police that the complainant�s phone which they collected from him got missing when they attempted to escape.
After investigations, the convicts were charged with the offences and put before the court.
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