By Joyce Danso
Accra, March 9, GNA- Three persons who robbed and raped some foreign volunteers at gunpoint at a guest house at Oshiyie, near Kokrobite on December 8, 20218, have been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment each by an Accra High Court.
Ishmael Akyene, aka Israel Nana Damascus, Daniel Akpan, aka Nseh or Danny and Asouo Mbuotidem Edem, aka Faith are said to have raped six of the victims.
This was after the accused persons, ex-convicts pleaded guilty to 32 counts of conspiracy to rob, robbery, rape, and possession of firearms without lawful authority.
The court presided over by Justice Mary Maame Ekue Yanzuh convicted them on their own pleas.
The court sentenced them on the robbery charges to 24 years imprisonment, 24 years on the charges of rape and 25 years on the charges of possession of firearms without lawful authority.
Sentences will, however, run concurrently, the court said.
It asked that the ammunition be given to the Police Forensic Lab while other accoutrements such as metal cutters and cutlasses are destroyed by the Police.
The court said the vehicle used in committing the crime should also be confiscated by the State and given to the Police.
Mr Sani Rashid, who represented the accused persons, prayed to the court to deal leniently with the accused persons since they had not wasted the court’s time by pleading guilty.
He said they had also been in custody for three to four years.
The prosecution led by the Director of Public Prosecution (DPP) Mrs Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa narrated that on December 8, 2018, a group of 12 volunteers arrived in Ghana and lodged at a guest house at Oshiyie, near Kokrobite at about 1:00 am.
It said they were in the country to work with a UK-registered charity operating in Ghana.
The prosecution said the volunteers who had come from the United Kingdom were shown around the house and soon after that, the accused persons armed with guns, a knife, a taser, and a long metal, forced opened their door and found the volunteers on a corridor.
The accused persons ordered the volunteers to lie down on the floor and took their mobile phones, iPads, power banks, money, and bank cards.
The prosecution said they also collected their pin codes and passwords to their phones.
It said the accused persons also had unprotected sex with six of the female victims and Edem, the third accused person, rape a married woman among them twice.
The prosecution said the accused persons spent about three hours during the robbery and rape operations at the guesthouse and left at about 4:00 am with their booty.
After the incident, the six victims who were raped went to the Hospital and swabs were taken from each of them.
It said when the accused persons were nabbed swabs were taken from them and the same were subjected to DNA analysis.
According to the prosecution, the outcome of semen samples matched the accused persons’ DNA.
It said Akyene who took one of the victim’s bank cards and used the same to withdraw money, was nabbed after CCTV footage was obtained. The vehicle used by Akyene was impounded.
The prosecution said Akyene and Akpan led the Police to the house of Edem.
It said Edem who had a Nigerian passport had travelled to Nigeria, but he was extradited to Ghana to stand trial.
The prosecution said an identification parade was held and some of the victims pointed Akyene and Edem out.
Akyene and Akpan also led the Police to a spot near a refuse dump in a bush along the Legon Haatso road to retrieve the implements they had used in committing the crime, including guns and ammunition.
GNA