Court jails unemployed man to 15 years for stealing mobile phone

An Accra Circuit has sentenced Awal Iddrisu to15 years’ imprisonment in hard labour.

Awal who was put before the court for stealing one Infinix hot 4 mobile phone worth GH¢370.00 and an amount of GH¢220.00, pleaded guilty to the charge.

Sentencing, the court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh said examination of the facts of the case indicated that the accused person had been engaging in the crime for a very long time and the police have also been on the lookout for him.

He convicted Awal on his own plea, saying the court having taken into consideration the fact that he attacked the victim with a knife and a machete, and also all the mitigating factors as well as the five days already spent in custody, the minimum sentence for the crime, would be deterrent enough.

He then sentenced the accused to 15 years in hard labour.

The facts of the case as presented by Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Patience Mario are that the complainant Daniel Nkrumah, trader resides at Nungua Ravico while the convict Awal Iddrisu, unemployed lives at Agbogbloshie.

She said Awal and his accomplices who are on the raider of the police usually come to Nungua near Abrefi spot to rob residents of their valuables. 

She said at about 2230 hours on January 22, the accused and three of his accomplices now at large wielding a shot cutlass attacked the complainant at the usual spot and robbed him of his Infinix hot note four mobile phone and cash of GH¢220.00.

The prosecution said on January 25, the complainant spotted the convict at the same spot and alerted his friends who assisted in arresting him to the police station.

The convict in his cautioned statement stated that he stole from the complainant and sold it to someone at Agbogbloshie. 

Efforts are being made to arrest the receiver and retrieve the mobile phone.

Source: GNA