Court jails policeman 20 years for robbery
A Koforidua Circuit Court presided by Mrs Mercy Adei-Kotei, has sentenced a police officer, lance corporal Seidu Gasty to 20 years imprisonment each on two counts of conspiracy to commit crime and to wit robbery and robbery.
The sentences are to be run concurrently.
The accused who was stationed at Akuse Police Station pleaded not guilty to both charges whiles a second accused, Kpornyo Seth Dodzi was acquitted and discharged for lack of evidence.
Assistant State Attorney, Mr Dickson Donkor, prosecuting, told the court that on March 26, 2018 around midnight a group of armed men numbering about eight of which some were armed with pump action guns and others with machetes besieged the Okwenya Shell filling station wearing mask and attacked two people who were at post as night security men.
He said the robbers instructed the security men to lie on the floor but one of them refused to comply with the order and as a result, he was subjected to severe beatings, but during the assault he saw someone who he identified as the accused, approaching where they were being assaulted.
The Prosecution said surprisingly, the accused joined in the assault as the attackers fired a gun to the head of one of the victims and again inflicted cutlass wounds on his forehead and his back.
Mr Dickson said the robbers then tied the victims on both hands and legs with belts and locked them up in a washroom, they then forced the main entrance to the supermarket opened, entered it, broke into an office safe and made away with an amount of GH¢37,851,000.
The prosecution said the owner of the filling station who is the complainant got wind of the robbery in the morning, visited the scene, met the victims locked in the washroom in critical conditions and rushed them to the Akuse Government hospital for treatment.
He said one of the victims was later referred to the 37 Military hospital for further treatment and when he was discharged later mentioned to the Police that on the day of the incident, he identified the accused Seidu, a Police officer and Kpornyo Seth Dodzi, a security officer at another filling station among the eight robbers who attacked them.
The Prosecution said on April 22, 2018, Detectives from the Regional CID acting on intelligence arrested these persons whom the victim had mentioned, and a search conducted on the accused led to the retrieval of one Brunei pistol mod 92 together with 2 magazines and three 1.8 mm ammunition, an axe, a knife, three pepper sprays, 10 wrist watches, a pair of handcuffs and a bayonet being possessed without lawful authority.
He said another search conducted in the room of Dodzi, the second accused at Trom, revealed eight BB live cartridges.
He said upon interrogation, the first accused gave conflicting statements about where he got the said guns and ammunitions, but denied committing the crime, whiles the second accused also denied the offence but were later arraigned.
The Assistant State Attorney prayed the court to hand the accused a stiff punishment since he was a serving police officer who should have known better and protect the citizenry rather against such crimes, to serve as deterrent to others.
He also prayed the court to consider how the accused had shown no remorse and disrespect to the court throughout the trial and sentence him accordingly.
Source: GNA