Driver jailed three years for stealing a vehicle

Accra, (Greater Accra) 1 March, '99 --

Accra, (Greater Accra) 1 March, '99 -- Isaac Kwame Addo, a driver, was on Friday sentenced to three years' imprisonment in hard labour by an Accra circuit tribunal for stealing a mini-bus, valued at 15 million cedis. Addo, also known as Kwame Ananse, pleaded guilty, saying his acceptance of guilt was to safe the time of the panel and also not to incur their displeasure. The tribunal, chaired by Mr Charles Quist, ordered that the vehicle, which has been retrieved by the police, should be handed over to Madam Florence Ofori Atta, the owner. Police Inspector Joseph Anneh Kwame told the tribunal that on January 22, this year, Mr Bright Adjei, the driver of the vehicle, was suddenly taken ill after loading passengers travelling from Madina to Accra. He therefore asked the accused person, then at the station, to drive the passengers to Accra. Accused did so but neither he nor the vehicle was seen again until the police arrested him after 30 days at Samreboi, in the Western Region. When he was asked to account for the 30 days' work he had done, he said he used the amount to pay a court fine for careless driving when he was involved in an accident.