Teshie robbers get 50 years

Two out of the gang of four robbers who are alleged to be behind the series of robbery at Teshie and its environs in Accra have been handed a total of 50 years in jail by an Accra circuit court.

They are Michael Kwabena Rockson, 29, cabbie and Eric Boateng aka Kwabla Kwashie, 22, phone seller.

Residents of Teshie and its environs have been under constant attacks lately by marauding gangsters, causing fear and panic among the residents.

These robbery incidents take place around Teshie Rasta, Tebibiano, Agbleza, Okpoi Gonno, GREDA Estates, Fertilizer, Adzorma and other areas, making residents to organize vigilante groups.

Recently, the Accra Regional police commander, DCOP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, toured the areas in order to beef up security and recommended the setting up of police posts in certain areas.

When the Accra circuit sat the prosecution, led by Chief Insp. Maxwell Oppong, said that Michael Kwabena Rockson and Eric Boateng aka Kwabla Kwashie and two others – Alhassan and Yaw Isaac – currently at large, on April 30, 2015 conspired and robbed one Matthew Eghan of an unspecified amount of money, LCD TV, laptop and wrist watches.

Appearing before a court presided over by Justice Francis Obiri, the accused persons admitted the offence and were convicted on their own pleas.

Sentencing the two, the trial judge said the accused persons were ex-convicts and was hopeful that they would have transformed after serving their jail terms.

He said robbery had been a national issue and as such the accused persons ought to be given a harsher sentence to serve as a deterrent to others.

Earlier, Chief Insp. Oppong had prayed the court to severely punish the accused persons, insisting that if the robbers were using pump action guns in their robberies, they might soon use AK 47 if they were given minimal sentence.