Thief tells court "I was forced to steal to survive"

An explanation by a confessed thief that he was forced to steal to save himself from starving did not amuse a Kumasi Circuit Court and it went ahead to sentence him to three years imprisonment.

Osei Kwame, 19, who claimed to have lost his parents and has no one to take care for him, was charged for unauthorised possession of a firearm and stealing. He pleaded guilty.

Police Inspector Gulliver Tenkorang told the court presided over by Justice William Boampong that the complainant in the case is a security officer working at the Otuasekan Rural Bank.

On April 29, he chanced upon a mob beating up the convict at Kronoum in Kumasi at about 0210 hours for stealing some used clothing and managed to rescue him.

He handed him over to the police together with the stolen items and when a body search conducted on him they uncovered a locally manufactured pistol.

The court ordered that the clothing should be sent to the Kumasi Children’s Home.