Electric cable thief jailed 3 years

A 33 year-old welder, Papa Kwasi Arhin has been sentenced to 3 years imprisonment in hard labour by the Tarkwa circuit court for stealing electric cables.

He was convicted on his own plea.

Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Florence Tawiah told the court, presided over by Mr. Samuel Obeng Diawuo that, the complainant, Mubarak Mohammed is a trader and lives at Brenuakyim a suburb of Tarkwa while the convict is a squatter at the Tarkwa Railways station.

According to the Prosecutor, on March 10, at about 01030 hours, the complainant visited his uncompleted building at Brofoyedru in the same vicinity to see the process of work but on reaching there he saw a young man seated in the porch.

She said when the complainant demanded what the young man wanted he said someone has asked him to wait for him there.

Chief Inspector Tawiah said when the complainant started accessing work done on the building he noticed that a hole had been created in the ceiling at the porch which had earlier on been completed with plastic T&J panel.

The Prosecutor said the young, who claimed he was waiting for someone sensing danger bolted away.

She said the complainant then suspected that there might be someone in the ceiling and so decided to check and to his surprise he saw Papa Arhin trying to descend from the ceiling.

The complainant then raised the alarm, which attracted people to the scene and Arhin was arrested.

She said the angry mob alleged that thieves had been terrorizing them in recent times and so wanted to lynch the convict but was rescued by the police.

Chief Inspector Tawiah said the complainant later detected that his electrical cables which were laid through PVC pipes in the ceiling had been removed from the pipes and kept in one room by the convict and his accomplice.

The Prosecutor said the complainant made a report to the police and the criminal was detained for investigation.

She said during investigation Arhin denied any knowledge of the crime but later confessed and mentioned the name of his accomplice as one Kofi who is now at large.