Self-styled businessman jailed four years for stealing

A 59-year-old self-styled businessman has been sentenced to four years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court for stealing a lawyer’s vehicle.

Alhaji Abu Mohammed was sentenced on the charges of causing unlawful damage, unlawful entry, stealing and dishonestly receiving.

Mohammed had pleaded not guilty to the charges.

The court presided over by Mrs Afia Owusuaa Appiah at the end of the trial found Mohammed guilty and sentenced him accordingly.

Mohammed pleaded for leniency.

The court said in sentencing him, it took into consideration the following mitigating factors; that Mohammed had spent approximately one year, two months in lawful custody and that he was a family man with four children.

Prosecution led by Chief Inspector Wisdom Alorwu said that the complainant Richard Kwaku Boadu was a lawyer and a resident of Ogbojo, Accra. The Accused person, now a convict, is a resident of Ashongman Estates, Accra.

The prosecution said the complainant and family resided in a private house at Ogbojo.

On April 27, 2024, at about 5:25 pm, while the complainant and his wife were out of the house and Mohammed used a pickaxe to break the burglar-proof metalwork and padlocks to the house.

The prosecution said after gaining access to the house, he caused further damage to four wooden doors leading to the complainant’s bedroom.

It said the cost of damage to the doors was GHC9,200.

According to the prosecution, Mohammed also ransacked the room and made away with the complainant’s unregistered 2017 White Range Rover Super Charger Vehicle, Honda Accord vehicle key, a laptop and an unspecified amount of money.

In April 2023, based on intelligence, the Police arrested Mohammed at Ashongman Estates in Accra when he attempted selling the vehicles at $50,000.

The prosecution said Mohammed led the Police to a hotel at Ashongman Estate where he lodged.

According to the prosecution, the Police retrieved a 2017 White Range Rover Super Charger Vehicle, Honda Accord vehicle key and the laptop bag from Mohammed at the hotel.

The prosecution said the Police retrieved the pickaxe used in committing the crime at the Hotel where Mohammed was lodging.

According to prosecution, the pickaxe was for a worker of the hotel who was also a witness in the case. A pair of sneakers worn by Mohammed while committing the crime was also retrieved.