Man jailed 12 years for stealing phone

An unemployed man, Kwabena Asare, has been slapped with a 12-year jail term by an Accra Circuit Court for snatching a Samsung Galaxy S2 mobile phone, valued at GHc850, from a student of Regent University at Ashalley Botwe, a suburb of Accra.

The convict was charged with robbery, contrary to section 149 of Act 29/60, and after a full trial, was sentenced to 12 years imprisonment.

Presenting the facts of the case before the court, Inspector Martin Acheampong said the complainant, Bernice Hoedzoade, who is a student of the Regent University College and a resident of Ashaley Botwe Little Roses, a suburb of Accra, while the accused person, Kwabena Asare, is an unemployed resident of Ashalley Botwe Old Town.

According to him, on March 10, 2015, at about 9:30pm, the complainant went for a choir practice at the Madina E.P. Church, and on her way back home, at a spot along Little Roses-Ashaley Botwe, she had a phone call. While attending to the call, the convict emerged from the dark, attacked her from behind, and snatched her Samsung Galaxy S2 mobile phone.

Inspector Acheampong told the court that she resisted, and in the process, the convict bit her on the right thumb and succeeded in snatching her Galaxy S2 mobile phone and took to his heels.

He said the complainant raised the alarm, and with the assistance of some people from the neighbourhood, the convict was arrested with the exhibit mobile phone and handed over to the Nmai-Dzorn Police Patrol team, who were on duty in the area.

The complainant then made a report, where she was issued with a medical form. She then attended hospital where she was treated and discharged. However, in the convict’s caution statement he admitted the offence, and stated that he has been longing to also use a “Windows” mobile phone, hence, his action.

The convict was charged with the offence and brought before court.