Court convicts two for illegal possession of weapons

An Accra Circuit Court has convicted two persons for possessing firearms and live cartridges without authority.

Felix Boamah, 34 pleaded guilty to possessing a locally made pistol whilst Hope Kwame Tagbolor, 32, pleaded guilty to possessing live cartridges without authority and were convicted on their own pleas.

Boamah and Tagbolor are facing additional charge of preparation to commit crime which they have both pleaded not guilty.

Mr Yaw Dankwa, their lawyer prayed the Court presided over by Mrs Afia Owusua Appiah to sentence them on the charges they had pleaded guilty to, since they had been on remand for two years.

However, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare disagreed and said even if they were sentenced, the Prisons’ Authority would not accept them due to the observance of the of COVID-19 protocols.

Mr Dankwa, then, prayed the Court to direct the prosecution to expedite trial.

The Court ordered prosecution to make available all documents including witness statements to the accused within ten days for the Case Management Conference to commence.

The court then deferred the sentencing of the convicts to June 2 this year.

Prosecuting, ASP Asare who submitted an amended charge sheet told the Court that on December 24, 2017, the National Patrol Team on duty patrols met the two at Nyamekye Junction, a suburb of Accra, about 0430 hours.

He said the two were on a motorbike with the registration number M-GR 17-8886 with Boamah being the rider.

He said a search on the accused revealed a gun, a knife, screwdriver, among other things on Boamah whereas Tagbolor had two live cartridges on him.

Prosecution said in their cautioned statements, Tagbolor told the Police he found the live cartridges on the ground and Boamah claimed he had seized the gun from somebody in the Volta Region during a fight.

Source: GNA