Head Porter arrested with pistol

A head porter, Issah Awal, has found himself in the grip of the law after he and another went to the Neoplan Station near Kwame Nkrumah Circle and stole Nokia, Samsung, Apple and Blackberry phones valued at GHc3,800 which were being charged by a trader.

Luck eluded him when the one charging the phones raised an alarm after he suddenly woke up, and the suspect was arrested while his alleged accomplice managed to escape.

He was arraigned in an Accra circuit court presided over by M.E. Essandoh and charged with conspiracy to commit crime, stealing and illegal possession of firearms without lawful authority.

He denied the charges and has been remanded in police custody, while the case has been adjourned to September 29, 2015.

The facts of the case as presented by the prosecutor, Francis Tassan, are that the complainant is Kingsley Ogwu, a business man who charges mobile phones at Neoplan, while the accused person is a head porter at Tulaku cattle market

at Ashaiman.

According to him, on September 2, 2015 at about 2.30 am, the complainant was at the Neoplan Station doing his regular business when the suspect and an alleged accomplice, now at large, found that the complainant was asleep while he was charging some phones.

He said they decided to take advantage of the situation to steal all the phones- Nokia 1280, Samsung E250, Apple Ipad 3, Blackberry 990, Iphone 45, Samsung 53 Mini and Ipad MP3- all valued at the said amount.

The prosecutor pointed out that the complainant abruptly woke up from sleep and saw the suspects carrying the phones away and raised an alarm.

In addition, he said the suspects took to their heels with the booty, but were arrested with the help of some other persons, while one managed to escape.

Explaining further, he said when the suspect was searched, a locally manufactured pistol with one live cartridge was found on him.

He said Issah was consequently arraigned after police concluded investigations.