Robbery suspects petition Attorney General over unfair trial

Lawyers for three suspected armed robbers (Derrick Danso, Dickson Addal, Prince Owusu and Gbekpor Marvin) have petitioned the office of the Attorney General to intervene in what they describe as unfair and unjustifiable prosecution of their clients.

The petition signed by Dr Emmanuel Maurice Ankrah ESQ. of Kuukua Legal Consulting, noted that their clients were wrongfully accused of robbing a judge.

The petition further claimed that the actual robbers were arrested by the Police and upon interrogation said those who were picked up earlier had nothing to do with the robbery therefore, they should be freed.

In spite of this revelation, the prosecution kept on keeping the earlier suspects in custody, thereby breaching their fundamental human rights, the petition said.

The petition read in part: “Our clients were arrested together with the two other accused persons sometime in January 2017 on the charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery without any justifiable reasons. They were alleged to have robbed vehicles and other valuables belonging to Justice Gertrude Araba Torkonoo, Francis Torkonoo, Anthony Koduah Bediako and patience Hammond on the 8th December 2016.

“That because of the manner in which the prosecution was conducting the case, the father of our client’s wrote a petition dated 16th October, 2017 to the Attorney General‘s office laying down the unfair manner in which our clients were being treated.

“That the Attorney General ‘s office wrote a letter dated 15th November , 2017 to the police directing them to send the docket to the AG’s office for review but the officers conducting the case have refused to do so.

“That subsequently sometime in December, 2017 two individuals namely Kweku Boahin and one Alomatu AKA Tilapia were arrested in Akwatia by the Legon police led by one inspector Brako for attempting to sell a stolen Honda CRV. Upon interrogation by the greater Accra regional CID DSP Ahiamadi and chief inspector Odame the two suspects admitted to being the master minds of a series of robberies in Accra and mentioned one Isaac Agyeman alias batman as an accomplice

Read full petition below…

PETITION AGAINST THE UNFAIR AND UNJUSTIFIABLE PROSECUTION OF DERRICK DANSO AND THREE (3) OTHERS IN THE CASE OF THE REPUBLIC V(1) DERRICK DANSO . (2) DICKSON ADDAL , (3) PRINCE OWUSU , (4) GBEKPOR MARVIN

We write this petition on the instructions on our clients derrick Danso and Dickson Addal who were arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery in the above – mentioned case. We wish to bring to your attention the unfair manner in which the police have been prosecuting this case. Our clients were arrested together with the two other accused persons sometime in January 2017on the charges of conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery without any justifiable reasons. They were alleged to have robbed vehicles and other valuables belonging to justice Gertrude Araba Torkonoo, Francis Torkonoo, Anthony Koduah Bediako and patience Hammond on the 8th December 2016.

That because of the manner in which the prosecution was conducting the case, the father of our client’s wrote a petition dated 16th October , 2017 to the Attorney General ‘s office laying down the unfair manner in which our clients were being treated.

That the Attorney General ‘s office wrote a letter dated 15th November , 2017 to the police directing them to send the docket to the AG’s office for review but the officers conducting the case have refused to do so. That subsequently sometime in December, 2017 two individuals namely Kweku Boahin and one Alomatu AKA Tilapia were arrested in Akwatia by the Legon police led by one inspector Brako for attempting to sell a stolen Honda CRV.

Upon interrogation by the greater Accra regional CID DSP Ahiamadi and chief inspector Odame the two suspects admitted to being the master minds of a series of robberies in Accra and mentioned one Isaac Agyeman alias batman as an accomplice.

That upon further interrogation they admitted that they committed the robbery of the items belonging to justice Getrude Araba Torkonoo, Francis Torkonoo, Anthony Koduah Bediako and Patience Hammond.

Tilapia confessed that batman’s girlfriend attends the same church with her ladyship justice Torkonoo and it was her who provided them with all the information they needed to successfully rob her justice Torkonoo after which they proceeded to rob the other victims that same night.

That after robbing the victims, tilapia added they gave the cars to one Nene Kwadwo Tetteh alias chairman who also proceeded on to respray the cars for onward sale to unsuspecting persons.

That Nene Kwadwo Tetteh and another accomplice Nana Ackaah were arrested by the police and charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery and having possession of stolen property. The case involving this two is pending before his Honour Aboagye Tandoh. Tilapia, Batman and Kweku Buahin were subsequently charged with conspiracy to rob and robbery and put before an Accra circuit court also presided over by his Honour Aboagye Tandoh.

That in court, tilapia, tilapia pleaded guilty to the charges proffered against him i.e. robbery of the vehicles and belongings of justice Gertrude Araba Torkonoo, Francis Torkonoo, Anthony Koduah and Patience Hammond on 8th December 2016.

Tilapia was therefore sentenced to 24 years on his own plea by his Honour Aboagye Tandoh for committing the robbery of the vehicles and other items belonging to Justice Gertrude Araba Torkonoo, Francis Torkonoo, Anthony Koduah Bediako and Patience Hammond on 8th December 2016.

That his Honour Aboagye Tandoh is the same judge presiding over the separate trials of Nene Kwadwo Tetteh, Nana Ackaah and Batman. That all of these accused persons have denied the involvement of our clients in the robbery that took place on the 8th of December 2016. They have all denied ever knowing or meeting our clients anywhere and phone records which are in the custody of the officers handling the case revealed that there Was no communication between our clients and Tilapia, Batman ,Kweku Buahin, Nene Kwadwo Tetteh and Nana Ackaah before, on the day of the robbery and afterwards.

That the prosecution during the trial of our clients have been unable to establish any link between our clients and the above mentioned accused persons. They have been unable to also establish any link between our clients and the offence for which they are still being held in custody.

That his Honour Aboagye Tandoh is very much aware of all of these facts because he is the presiding judge in the separate trials of all the accused persons mentioned in the paragraph 14.

That we send this petition in the interest of justice and in pursuit of the liberty of our clients who have been held in police custody without bail since January 2017for a crime they did not commit. It is our firm belief that after our review of this docket, the injustice being perpetrated against our clients will be remedied.

Cc: 1 Her Ladyship the Chief Justice

2.The Inspector General of Police