Scrap dealer jailed 25 years for stealing

A Tarkwa circuit court has sentenced Thomas Azziz, a 35 year-old scrap dealer, to 25 years imprisonment for stealing one Toshiba Laptop,170 pieces of mobile phones, a metal safe containing calibrator weighting machine, 35 ounces of gold and cash of 5,000 Ghana cedis all totaling 37,939.00 Ghana cedis.

He pleaded guilty.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Edward Paddy, told the court presided over by Mr. Samuel Obeng Diawuo, that the complainants are gold buying agents and a mobile phone vendor who live at Low-Cost, a suburb of Tarkwa, and had their office located near the Tarkwa Post Office roundabout.

The offender, known to be a hardened criminal, reside at Cyanide in the same vicinity.

According to Inspector Paddy, on August 18, this year, the complainants after close of work packed 170 pieces of assorted mobile phones, a Toshiba laptop, metal safe containing a calibrator weighting machine, 35 ounces of gold and cash of 5,000 Ghana cedis into their office, locked the place up and left for home.

He said the complainants returned to the office the next day to detect that the place has been broken into by unknown thieves.

Inspector Paddy said upon a tip-off the convict was arrested from his hid out on August 24, at Cyanide.

When the police conducted a search in his room, they retrieved a cash sum of 4,800 Ghana cedis, Toshiba lap top, calibrator weighting machine and six brand new phones.

The Prosecutor said the complainants later identified the items at the police station as some of the stolen items from their office.

He said during investigation, the convict denied having any knowledge about the theft but alleged one Oseikoh and two others brought the items to him for safe keeping.