Friday, May 28, 2010

TWO JAILED 10 YEARS FOR STEALING (MIRROR, PAGE 27, MAY 29, 2010)

From George Ernest Asare, Kumasi

After almost one year of stealing two mobile phones from a victim at gunpoint at Bechem in the Brong Ahafo Region, the cups of two armed robbers finally became full when they were preparing to carry out another robbery expedition at Bantama in Kumasi.
While they were preparing to strike, with a pump action gun, a knife, a pair of scissors and a screw driver in their bags, a tip-off led to their arrest.
Fuseini Issah, alias Ibrahim, 25, a Burkinabe, and Dennis Otuo Serebuor, 28, a native of Bekwai in the Ashanti Region, were found guilty on charges of preparing to commit a crime, possessing firearms without authority and stealing when they appeared before a Kumasi High Court, presided over by Mr R.C. Azumah.
They were sentenced to a term of five years each with hard labour.
They had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges
Presenting the facts of the case to the court, a State Attorney, Mr Emmanuel Lawrence Otoo-Boison, said the complainants of the case were members of a watchdog committee at the Race Course area at Bantama.
He said the complainants had a hint that the convicts were preparing to undertake a robbery expedition and, therefore, confronted them.
He said when their bags were searched, a Nokia phone, a phone card, a knife, a screw driver, a pair of scissors, as well as a locally manufactured pistol, were found in it.
Mr Otoo-Boison said the members of the committee escorted the suspects to the Regional Police Criminal Investigations Department to assist in investigations, in the course of which it came out that the phone had been stolen almost a year ago at Bechem in the Brong Ahafo Region.
He said the convicts further told the police that they used the pistol in their possession to collect a debt at Bantama but could not explain why a pistol should be used to collect a debt and how they came by it.

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