By Joyce Danso
Accra, Aug. 22, GNA – An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced four persons to a total jail term of 80 years imprisonment for robbing a mobile money vendor at gunpoint at Pokuase, near Amasaman in the Greater Accra Region.
The accused persons who are to serve 20 years imprisonment each changed their plea of not guilty to guilty.
Ibrahim Muntari, a 29-year-old driver, Evans Nuertey, a 27-year-old driver, Abubakar Sadiq, aka Frenchman, a 30-year-old Okada Rider and Prince Ayitey, were being held on charges of conspiracy to commit crime to wit robbery and robbery.
The ex-convicts are said to have robbed a mobile money vendor (name withheld) of her bag containing GHC3,500, recharge cards valued GHC4,000 and four mobile phones valued GHC630.
The accused persons took a cue from the trial judge who had earlier on sentenced them to 19 years imprisonment in one of the numerous cases before her.
The GNA gathered that prior to that, another Circuit Court had sentenced three of the convicts except Ayitey to 17 years on a robbery charge.
The court, which sentenced the convicts to 19 years after the trial, told them to advise themselves if they knew they committed the act in the other cases before her.
When one of the numerous cases was called, the accused persons, now ex-convicts, prayed to the court presided over by Mrs Patricia Amponsah that they had pondered over what she had told them and that they would like to change their pleas.
The court, therefore, sentenced them to 20 years imprisonment each on their own pleas.
Narrating the facts, Chief Inspector John Gohoho, said the complainant resided at Sowutuom and that Muntari, Nuertey and Sadiq resided at Olebu, Odumasi and Mankrong respectively while Ayitey resided at Olebu.
Chief Inspector Gohoho said on March 8, 2020, the Amasaman Police arrested Muntari and another at Pokuase for allegedly possessing firearms without authority.
The prosecution said on March 17, 2020, the Accra Regional Police in an intelligence report indicated that Muntari and his accomplice were among those who had attacked mobile money vendors in 2019 and on March 6, 2020.
It said during interrogation, Muntari and his accomplice mentioned the names of Nuertey, Sadiq, and Ayitey.
According to the prosecution, the convicts mentioned Pokuase as the place where they robbed the complainant.
It said On March 18, 2020, Muntari led the Police to places of abode of the convicts and they were arrested.
On March 20, 2020, the prosecutor said the convicts led the Police to Pokuase and showed them the shop of the complainant as “where they attacked her at gunpoint and robbed her of her handbag which contained her money, phone phones and recharge cards.”
According to the prosecutor, the convicts said they went to Olebu in a taxi driven by Muntari and they had shared the money.
GNA