Carpenter, 22, jailed six years for stealing

A Kumasi circuit court presided over by Madam Mary Nsenkyire, has sentenced a 22-year-old carpenter to six years imprisonment after he was convicted on charges of conspiracy to steal, unlawful entry and defrauding by false pretences.

Akwasi Amponsah, the convict who resides at Bomso in Kumasi, is said to have conspired with two others only named as Ebenezer and Abeiku, both on the run, to commit the crime.

He pleaded guilty to the charges and was convicted on his own plea.

Chief Inspector Edith Oppong Nyarko, prosecuting told the court that, the complainants who reside at Oforikrom in Kumasi are sales officers for the Africa Resource Management Company, which provides servicing and maintenance for mobile heavy-duty equipment for mining.

She said the complainants went for some heavy duty equipment in a pickup vehicle late in the night around 1220 hours on 03 of June this year but could not offload the equipment at their branch office in Kumasi.

She said the complainants then parked the vehicle in front of their rented apartment and retired to bed.

Chief Inspector Nyarko said at 0330 hours, Mariam Musah, a witness in the case who was then fetching water in front of her house, spotted the accused persons in the vicinity and questioned them as to what they were doing in the area at that hour.

She said the convict and his accomplices could not give any tangible explanation and just walked away and went into hiding only to come back when the witness had left.

The Prosecution said they then jumped over the fence wall into the house and managed to steal four boxes containing the above-mentioned equipment, all valued GHC 6,634.54.

She said in the course of carrying the boxes away, Yakubu Yussif another witness in the case, spotted them and confronted them about it where they claimed the boxes were given to them a Chinese national also residing in the house with the complainants.

Chief Inspector Nyarko said upon detecting the theft the next morning, complainants informed their neighbours and Yussif, one of the witnesses told them that he saw the thieves carrying the stolen items.

She said a report was then made to the police and convict was arrested for investigations.

The prosecution said after preliminary police investigations, the convict admitted the offence in his cautioned statement and said he and the accomplices sold the items at the Suame Magazine at the cost of GHC 1.100.00, but after leading the police to the venue, none of the items was retrieved.