High Court reverses imprisonment verdict, fines convict

The Sunyani High Court Two on Thursday reversed an imprisonment verdict on a 23-year-old carpenter and instead imposed a fine of GH¢720.00.

The convict was sentenced to two years imprisonment for stealing by a Circuit Court.

Anthony Yeboah, the convict, had pleaded guilty to stealing two mobile phones valued at GH¢1,100.00 and cash of GH¢390.00 and was accordingly convicted and sentenced by the Circuit Court presided over by Mr Sylvester Nii Okine Ablorh.

However, Mr Moses Kofi Obah, the convict’s defence counsel filed an appeal, which the High Court Two presided over by Justice Gabriel Mate-Teye granted and rather imposed 60 penalty units fine on the convict.

Defence Counsel told the High Court that on Saturday, December 11, 2021, the convict entered the room of the complainant, his landlady at Fiapre in the Sunyani West Municipality while she was in the bathroom and stole the phones and the money.

The complainant reported the issue to the Police at Odumase, the Municipal capital and Police intelligence led to the convict’s arrest and admitted the offence during interrogation, Mr Obah said.

But the convict told the Police he had spent the cash and later led the Police to retrieve the mobile phones, defence counsel added.

The convict was subsequently arraigned before the Circuit Court, which sentenced him to a two-year jail term on Monday, December 13, 2021.

Mr Obah, on behalf of the convict, presented GH¢400.00 to the High Court to be given to the complainant and pleaded with the Court to substitute the jail term with penalty units, which were granted.

Source: GNA