Batik maker jailed 35 years

An Accra Circuit Court on Wednesday sentenced Fred Baba a.k.a Condom, to a total of 120 years in jail, on one count of conspiracy to commit crime and three counts of robbery.

The convict Baba, a Batik maker, would serve 20 years for conspiracy, and for the three counts of robbery, he would serve 30, 35, 35 years. The sentences are to run concurrently.

Mrs Rita Doko, Senior State Attorney, told the Court presided over by Francis Obiri that on August 21, 2012, at about 2:30am, the complainant and his brother were sleeping in their house at Mango Street, Teshie Nungua Estate, when the convict and three others broke into their house.

She said the convict and his accomplices, who were masked, were armed with pump action guns, a cutter and a hammer.

She said the convict, who was fully armed with a pump action gun, ordered the complainant and his brother to lie face down.

The prosecution said they obliged, but later the complainant was bold enough to challenge the convict and his accomplices and told them to take whatever they wanted.

Mrs Doko said the convict and his accomplices ransacked all the rooms and took six laptops and thirteen mobile phones belonging to the complainant and the brother.

She said the convict then took the complainant’s travelling bag, emptied it and loaded it with their booty.

The Senior Attorney said they tried to bolt with the booty, when the complainant and the brother mastered courage and arrested one of them and subjected him to severe beating.

“In the course of beating him, the accused person shouted out to the convict to come to his aid,” she added.

She said the convict then scaled the wall and jumped into the house with his pump action gun and tried to shoot the complainant and his brother.

The prosecution told the court that this time round, the convict was not wearing the mask, but he was able to assist his accomplices and they bolted with the stolen items.

She said the complainant quickly rushed to the police station to lodge a complaint.

“The complainant was able to give a vivid description of the convict and the role he played in the robbery,” she said.

A week after the robbery, Baba was arrested at Teshie Nungua Zongo upon a tip-off, it was upon these facts that he was convicted.