An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced a caretaker, who assisted three armed robbers, now at large, to rob a nurse of her handbag containing $14,000 and jewelleries, has been sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment in hard labour.
Kofi Adonteng Boateng was arrested on July 2 at Oyarifa for using a duplicate key to open the doors to the room of one Lydia Siaw, a nurse who had just returned from the United States to spend time in the country.
The complainant rented an apartment after she arrived in the country on June 30, 2017.
The convict was said to have spotted the cash in the nurse’s handbag and offered to assist her carry it into the room, but the nurse declined.
Unknown to the nurse, the convict had duplicate keys to all the rooms in the house and on that fateful night opened the doors for the armed robbers to rob her of the money and jewelleries.
He was dragged before the court on the charge of abetment of crime to which he pleaded not guilty.
He told the court during trial that he had nothing to do with the crime.
He said on the said day, he saw the armed robbers and shouted ‘thief’ ‘thief’ to draw the attention of the tenants and neighbours.
Kofi Adonteng was also accused of renting out a room in the house for GH?1,500 to a tenant without the landlord’s knowledge.
He however denied the allegation, saying he gave out the room freely out of kindness without receiving a dime.
The court, presided over by Mr. Aboagye Tandoh, ruled that per the evidence before the court, it was clear that the convict committed the offence.
He said although he tried to convince the court that he was innocent, it was strange that although he claimed to have screamed to alert the tenants and the neighbours of the robbers, nobody heard him.
Mr Tandoh stated that the prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Kwabena Adu, managed to prove that he had duplicate keys to all the rooms in the house.
He added that the armed robbers, who had insider information, specifically demanded the handbag containing the money.
Mr Tandoh therefore found him guilty of the charge and convicted him same.
The judge said he sentenced the convict to 10 years’ imprisonment in hard labour after considering the plea of lawyer Paul Kumi for mitigation.
By Gibril Abdul Razak