JHS boy gets 40 years for robbery

Two persons were yesterday sentenced to a total of 40 years by an Accra Circuit Court for robbery.

They are Yaw Borloe, unemployed, and Gilbert Kwasi, a final year student of Madina No. 4 Junior High School (JHS).

A businessman, Michael Ampong, is also in the dock for dishonestly receiving the proceeds of the robbery while the police have mounted a search for one Patrick who is on the run.

Charges

Yaw and Gilbert are facing charges of conspiracy and robbery.

According to the prosecution led by DSP Ernest Acheampong, the two on June 10, 2015 at Ashalley Botwe, a suburb of Accra, robbed one Hannah Smith Lawson of 60 pieces of T- shirts worth GH¢2,100, eight pieces of Lacoste shirts valued at GH¢360, 32 pieces of short sleeve shirts worth GH¢1,200, and 17 pieces of long sleeves worth GH¢1,020, all totalling GH¢ 8,305.

Appearing before the court presided over by Justice Francis Obiri, the three accused persons admitted the offence.

But the judge, upon interrogating Ampong and realising that the accused did not know he was buying stolen items, entered a not guilty plea for him.

Sentence

Delivering the sentence, Justice Obiri reiterated the fact that the society was no longer safe in view of the rampant spate of robberies in the country.

He said the fact that the robbery was staged in broad daylight meant that the robbers were “brave and daring” and as such deserved no mercy from the court.

Justice Obiri stated that the only way society could be appeased was to mete out a harsher sentence to serve as a deterrent to others.

The High Court Judge accordingly handed Yaw and Kwasi 15 years each for conspiracy and 20 years each for robbery, both to run concurrently.

He however remanded Ampong into police custody until June 24, 2015.

Facts

The facts of the case as presented by DSP Acheampong are that the complainant is a businesswoman resident at Ashalley Botwe.

He said Michael and Patrick are businessmen and that at about 2:30pm on the said day, Yaw and Gilbert went to Hannah’s boutique and met her daughter.

DSP Acheampong said the accused persons, wearing masks and armed with a cutlass, attacked the store attendant, tied her up with a rope and took away the said items.

The police officer said the accused persons packed the items into two fertilizer bags and bolted in a waiting taxi.