ARMED ROBBERS JAILED 130 YEARS' IMPRISONMENT

The Accra Circuit Court yesterday sentenced three armed robbers to a total of 130 years' imprisonment with hard labour. Two of the convicts, Gideon Fianko, a driver, and Prince Owusu Ansah, a labourer, who have previous records of stealing and serving various jail terms were convicted after they had pleaded guilty to robbing a taxi driver. The two are to serve 50 years each in prison. At 12.40 a.m. on February 18, 2013, the two robbed Samuel Kwaku of his Toyota Corolla taxi, with registration number GB 6026, at Adenta in Accra. In another robbery case, Yaw Annan Ampomah, unemployed, was sentenced to a term of 30 years with hard labour after he had pleaded guilty to robbing a resident of Dansoman, Mr Joe Debrah, of his DSTV mobile phone and cash, both amounting to GH460. Ampomah committed the offence at Dansoman on February 16, 2013. The court also directed that a knife seized from Ampomah be destroyed under the supervision of the court's registry. Ampomah, according to the prosecution, together with his accomplice who is currently on the run, attacked his victim at knife-point at Dansoman around 11 p.m. and made away with items worth GH¢460. He was, however, apprehended some few minutes after the robbery but his accomplice managed to abscond. Sentencing Fianko and Ansah, the court, presided over by Mr Francis Obiri, drew its inspiration from 1 Timothy 1:9 and submitted that robbery was on the ascendency and it was, therefore, important for the court to give the convicts "enhanced sentences". 1 Timothy 1:9 states: "Knowing this that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers." (King James Version (KJV) Fianko had pleaded with the court to bond him to be of good behaviour, while Ansah prayed for mercy, but the prosecutor, Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Reindorf Agyemang, urged the court to ignore their pleas for leniency. According to Mr Agyemang, the two had "graduated" from stealing car battery and household equipment to "car robbery". Passing sentence, the court maintained that the convicts did not deserve mercy, adding that robbery was so rampant that "people cannot even travel at night". Mr Obiri further stated that there was the need for the "accused persons to be confined for a long time" and suggested the need for a national research into why a large number of youth engaged in robbery, narcotic drugs trading and defilement. The case of the prosecution against Fianko and Ansah was that the complainant was in charge of the taxi-cab waiting for passengers when the two approached him and requested to be taken to Adenta Old Barrier for a charge of GH¢5. On reaching the Adenta Old Barrier, Ansah ordered the complainant to turn towards another direction, to which the complainant obliged. At that point, Ansah pulled out a knife and threatened to stab the complainant if he did not stop the vehicle. The complainant stopped the vehicle and was eventually pulled out of it by Fianko, who later drove the vehicle towards Koforidua. Luck, however, eluded them when they were arrested by policemen at a checkpoint and subsequently handed over to the Adenta Police. The two admitted the offence in their caution statements to the police

Source: Daily Graphic