Porter sentenced to 50 years for car-jacking

Kumasi, March 10, GNA - A Kumasi Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Justice Emmanuel Amoh-Yartey, has ordered that Haruna Alhassan, a 29-year-old porter, who stole a taxi-cab at gun-point, be kept in jail for 50 years in hard labour.

He pleaded not guilty to the offence. Police Chief Inspector Comfort Baffour-Kyei told the court that the complainant, Joseph Koomson, is a taxi driver and lives at Kwadaso, a suburb of Kumasi.

On December 23, last year, he picked the convict and two other accomplices, now on the run, in his Opel Astra taxi cab from Adum to Santasi at about 2000 hours.

The prosecution said mid-way through the journey, at a spot close to the Miklin Hotel, Alhassan pulled a locally manufactured pistol, while his two colleagues drew pairs of scissors and ordered the driver to surrender the ignition key.

Koomson obliged to save his life and the robbers sped off. Police Chief Inspector Baffour-Kyei said the complainant reported the incident to the police and the information was relayed to the patrol teams. The police succeeded in intercepting the stolen vehicle and arrested Alhassan. His accomplices, however, managed to escape.