Mobile phone thief back to prison

Asamankese, Jan. 16, GNA - Shortly after being released from prison after serving a four- month term for stealing a mobile phone, Paul Lartey is going back to prison again, this time for three years in hard labour. Lartey, 19, who described himself as a student was convicted and sentenced to three years imprisonment on each of the three counts when he appeared before the Asamankese Circuit Court presided over by Mr Emmanuel Siame, with the sentences to run concurrently. He pleaded guilty to unlawful damage, unlawful entry and stealing.

Police Chief Inspector Ben Brew, prosecuting, told the court that both the complainant, Nana Kwame and Lartey lived at Awokotse, a suburb of Suhum. He said on January 12 at about 0730 hours, the complainant locked his room and went to his provisions store at Suhum. Mr Brew said Lartey on realizing that the complainant had left the house, took advantage of it and went to the back of the room, damaged the window and forcibly removed the iron rods on it. He then entered the room through the window, ransacked the room and stole two mobile phones valued at 240 Ghana cedis, cash of 280 Ghana cedis and a mobile chip valued at five Ghana cedis, all to the tune of 525 Ghana cedis.

The complainant said while Lartey was in the room, a witness in the case saw him and raised the alarm, but the convict managed to jump through the window and escaped. The witness then went to inform the complainant about what had happened and he organized a group to look for Lartey, which succeeded in arresting, and handed him over to the police. During investigations, a mobile phone and two mobile phone chips were retrieved from Lartey, but the police could not find the other mobile phone and the amount of 280 Ghana cedis.