Court jails potter three years for stealing

Cape Coast, Nov. 26, GNA - A circuit court at Cape Coast on Friday sentenced an 18 year-old potter, Mallam Yakubu to three years in jail in hard labour for snatching a ladies' hand bag containing 5,410 dollars and other personal items.

Yakubu pleaded guilty. However, his accomplice, Kwame Ayew, also 18 years and a mason, pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody until Monday, 29 November.

Also facing trial is Ayew's 65-year-old mother, Adwoa Korkor, who has been charged with dishonestly receiving.

She pleaded not guilty and has been granted bail in the sum of 10 million cedis with one surety.

Inspector Hope Azasoo, prosecuting, told the court presided over by Mr Mustapha Logoh that on the night of September 7 at about 2000 hours, the complainant, Ms Lovelace Essel, who was returning from Accra to Saltpond, alighted at Mankessim to buy pineapples.

He said Ayew who was standing at the roadside, blocked her view, making it possible for Yakubu to snatch the bag containing 5,410 dollars, a Nokia mobile phone, a set of two gold necklaces valued at four million cedis, 300,000 cedis cash and a voter ID card from her and took to his heels.

Inspector Azasoo said her shouts for help did not yield any results since it was dark, but police investigations later led to the arrest of the two boys.

The prosecutor said upon interrogation, Yakubu admitted the offence and Ayew also told the police that he had given 2,200 dollars to her mother, Korkor for safekeeping.

The police later retrieved 2,000 dollars from Korkor and 1,100 from Yakubu while some personal effects Yakubu had bought with part of his share of the money were also retrieved, he added.

The prosecutor said the police also traced and collected the mobile phone, from a porridge seller at Mankessim who claimed one of the boys sold it to her.