Police officers jailed for robbery

Six policemen have been handed 20 years imprisonment each on two counts to run concurrently for robbery.

The six were sentenced along with four civilian accomplices on two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery, and were handed 20 years each on each count to run concurrently.

That means they each get to spend 20 years in prison.

The convicts are Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Patrick Kwapong, Chief Inspector Thomas Adu, Sergeant John Adjapong, Corporal Lawrence Dennis Quansah, Lance Corporal Karim Muntari and Constable Benjamin Blejumah.

Their civilian accomplices are Adams Amanor, Kwasi Tawiah, Peter Kwame Gyasi aka Kwame Tawiah and Bismark Ampofo. Two other suspects including one Jeffrey, are at large.

Joy News Sammy Darko, reporting from the court, said the policemen engaged in fisticuffs moments after they were handed the conviction and sentences by the circuit court, presided by Mr. Mahamadu Iddrisu, accusing one another of being the cause of their predicament.

The convicts were tried for robbing one Kwaku Duah, a businessman based in Switzerland of huge sums of money and personal belongings in a hotel at Dzorwulu in Accra after attempting to frame him up as a drug dealer.

The court heard that Amanor had been known to Mr Duah when they were in Switzerland.

Sometime last year, Mr Duah told Amanor he wanted to come to Ghana to buy gold and Amanor opted to assist him.

Mr Duah arrived in Ghana on February 1, checked into Relax Court Hotel at Dzorwulu and got in touch with Amanor who briefed him about the supposed suppliers of the gold.

On February 2 at about 10pm, Amanor and Jeffery who was armed with a pistol, accompanied by Gyasi, and a Nigerian now at large, went to the hotel room of Mr Duah under the pretext of transacting the gold business.

They said the business was to take place between the complainant and Jeffery.

Before the meeting, Jeffery and the Nigerian had arranged with Amanor, who had also instructed Chief Inspector Adu, Sergeant Adjapong, Corporal Quansah and the soldier, to go to the hotel.

When they got to the hotel, they met Lance Corporal Muntari, Constable Acheampong and Constable Blejuamah.

They broke into Mr Duah's room and Jeffery pulled out a pistol on Mr Duah whom they beat until he started bleeding from the nose.

The attackers later searched Mr Duah and took away two envelopes containing 53,000 US dollars, 800 Euros and GH¢2,000.

They also ransacked Mr Duah's room and took away a black bag containing two Walkman CD players, a digital camera valued at $4,000, two bunches of keys and a Standard Chartered Bank cheque book.

The convicts arrested the complainant and later abandoned him at Tema.