Court sentences charcoal thief on his own plea
Thief nearly lynched by youth for incessant stealing
An unemployed man has been sentenced by a circuit court in Dormaa Ahenkro in the Bono region to two years with hard labour for stealing a pair of Birkenstock slides, popularly known as berk, and a cash amount of GHC80.00, GNA has reported.
The pair of berk slippers is valued at GHC70.00
Ernest Appiah, 28, was convicted after he pleaded guilty to the charges levelled against him.
He was accused of causing unlawful damage, unlawful entry, and stealing.
The prosecutor, Police inspector Emmanuel Asare, noting the facts of the case said that the complainant who was a trader and a farmer resided at ABB, a suburb of Dormaa-Ahenkro with Ernest Appiah. The complainant and convict are relatives and natives of Aboabo Number One.
According to the prosecutor, on May 28, 2022, the complainant noticed, upon her return from the market, that the pair of slippers and the said amount concealed in a backpack in her room were missing.
GNA reports that the prosecutor indicated that on a few occasions the complainant had received complaints of alleged theft cases against the convict, who usually came home late and had been warned to desist from such acts.
A witness is reported to have told the complainant that he saw the convict forcing the window of the complainant open with a knife.
The complainant saw the lock affixed to her window, valued at GHC 60 had been broken.
Efforts to reach the convict proved futile until June 3, 2022, when Appiah came back to the house and stole a bag of charcoal valued at GHC 60.00, belonging to the complainant.
The convict was subjected to severe beatings by the youth in the vicinity.
The prosecutor added that the police received a distress call that the convict had been arrested and about to be lynched by residents. The police went for him and said he admitted to committing the offences in an interrogation, a report by GNA noted.
Police Inspector Asare noted that Ernest said he kept stealing due to hunger and lack of clothing.
Ernest Appiah was sentenced by a court presided over by Mr. Samuel Djanie Kotey after investigations.
Source: www.ghanaweb.com
