Two teenage robbers jailed 30 years
Two robbers who attacked three women at Abokobi, near Accra, and made away with items worth GH¢7,000 were on Wednesday jailed 15 years each with hard labour by the Accra Circuit Court.
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Nineteen-year-old Samuel Adjako, a mason, and 18-year-old Benjamin Adu Asante, a driver apprentice, pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to rob and robbery.
But the court, presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh, held that the prosecution was able to prove beyond reasonable doubt the charges levelled against the two.
Another member of the gang, only identified as Kwadwo, is, however, on the run.
Robbery
Per the facts of the case, on January 28, 2017, at around 12:40 a.m., the gang, armed with locally manufactured pistols and machetes, broke into the house of the three females.
While Adjako and Asante entered the house to conduct the robbery, Kwadwo stood watch in front of the house.
The prosecutor, Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu, said the gang forcibly took a Samsung Galaxy phone, a jewellery box and cash, all totalling GH¢7,000, from the women.
“Only Asante was masked,” he said, and added that “Adjako saw one of the women naked in bed and attempted to rape her, but was prevented from doing so by Asante, who told him that they needed to escape,” he said.
After achieving their aim, the prosecutor said, the robbers bolted.
Busted
Chief Inspector Adu explained that on February 3, 2017 one of the victims saw Adjako in town and raised an alarm, leading to his arrest.
“In the course of investigations, Adjako mentioned Asante and Kwodwo as his accomplices.
He stated that they had been robbing people around the Oyarifa, Teiman and Abokobi vicinity for the past two years,” he said.
Based on the information, the prosecutor said, Asante was arrested on February 4, 2017.
No mistaken identity
Lawyers for the convicts, during the trial, argued that there was no way the victims could have identified Asante as being part of the gang, since the prosecution stated that he was in mask.
But in the judgement, the court held that Adjako identified him as part of the gang and the victims were able to recognise his voice.
Before passing sentence, lawyer for the convicts, Mr Yaw Dankwah, pleaded with the court to give his clients lenient sentences because they were young adults.
His clients, he said, had learnt their lessons and, therefore, a longer custodial sentence would rather make them hardened criminals.
Based on that, the court slapped Adjako and Asante with the minimum sentence for robbery, with a warning that it should serve as a deterrent to the youth not to indulge in any social vices
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