A lawyer representing two armed robbers was robbed of his belongings while on his way to court.
Yaw Dankwa was travelling in a taxi to an Accra Circuit Court to hear to the judgement of the court when the incident happened.
But midway through the journey, the taxi driver lost his way and asked the lawyer to alight and ask for directions.
The driver outsmarted him and drove off.
He lost his suit and brief case, which contained his laptop, phone, case dockets and other personal effects.
Yaw Dankwa was forced to borrow a suit to appear before the court in order not to “appear naked before the judge.”
This however did not stop the court, presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh, from delivering the judgement.
The two convicts, Samuel Adjako and Benjamin Adu Asante aka Attah were arraigned before the court for robbing one Rosemary Kugblenu, Pharmacy Technician and her sister, Linda Kugblenu, a police officer of various items, totalling GH¢7,000 at gunpoint.
The presiding judge, Mr Aboagye Tandoh said though the lawyer for the accused tried to convince the court that the second accused person (Benjamin Adu) could be wrongly prosecuted for mistaken identity since he was said to be wearing a mask, the prosecution managed to prove beyond reasonable doubt that he committed the crime.
The court, which took the plea of the defence lawyer for mitigation in consideration, sentenced the two to 15 years’ imprisonment each in hard labour
He said “considering the weapons used and the modus operandi of the crime, 15 years is a serious punishment but the court finds it as enough deterrent to the youth that the path of robbery is more bitter than sweet and not worth embarking upon.”
Chief Inspector Kwame Adu told the court that the two on January 28, 2017 at about 12:40am went the complainants’ house at Aboobi armed with a machete and locally manufactured pistol.
He said they robbed them of a Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge mobile phone valued at GH¢3,000, assorted jewelleries valued at GH¢590, cash GH¢3,410, as well as a Susu box containing an unspecified amount of money.
He said Benjamin Adu was wearing a mask while Samuel Adjako was not.
Chief Inspector Adu narrated that Adu, who saw one of the complainants sleeping naked in bed, attempted to rape her but was stopped by his accomplice who was more interested in the items.
He said a third accused person, identified only as Kwadzo, who is still at large, positioned himself at the entrance of the house to prevent anyone from entering the house.
The armed robbers managed to bolt with their booty.
He said on February 4, 2017, Samuel Adjako was spotted in the area by the complainant, who raised an alarm that led to his arrest.
He mentioned Benjamin Adu and Kwadzo as his accomplices after his arrest.
He added that Samuel Adjako, upon his arrest, told the police that the other two convicts were his partners, who had robbed several people of their valuables in the past two years.
They however pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy and robbery in court.
By Gibril Abdul Razak