Justice for All Programme beneficiary before court for robbery

A 24-YEAR-OLD man who benefited from the Justice For All Programme and was released from prison recently, was yesterday remanded in custody by the Accra Circuit Court for his alleged role in a robbery.

Samuel Ato, alias Kofi Obeng, and two other accomplices, now at large, are said to have used a double-barrelled gun to attack a house at Kwashieman in Accra and robbed the tenants of their belongings on May 31, 2015.
He pleaded not guilty to five counts of robbery and is to reappear before the court on June 26, 2015.

Background

Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Ernest Acheampong told the court, presided over by Mr Justice Francis Obiri, a High Court judge with additional responsibility as a circuit court judge, that the complainants were businessmen and co-tenants residing at Kwashieman in Accra.
He said Ato, a steel bender, and two other accomplices went to the house of their victims about 1 a.m. on May 31, 2015 while they were asleep.

Ato and his accomplices, he said, used a double-barrelled gun and started robbing their victims from room-to-room, collecting their money, wristwatches, mobile phones and other belongings.
He said one of the victims, who sold mobile phones, was at his shop when the accused brought in a Pineng backup power and a Royal power burst to offer them for sale.

He said the victim identified the items as the one the accused robbed him and when he got closer to the accused, he noticed that the accused was wearing a pair of canvas shoes and a Tommy Hilfiger wristwatch belonging to the victim.
The prosecutor said with the assistance of other people around, the victim apprehended Ato and took him to the police station.