The Accused persons
The Mpraeso Circuit Court has sentenced the two police men at the center of the Donkorkrom Ghana Commercial Bank (GCB) bullion van robbery to three years’ imprisonment with hard labour for escaping from lawful custody.
The two General Lance Corporals Daniel Kissi Abrokwah and Elvis Mensah were convicted on two counts of conspiracy to escape from lawful custody and escape from lawful custody.
The two police officers are currently standing trial for murder over their involvement in bullion van robbery at Afram Plains in the Eastern Region.
They were sentenced to 12 months’ imprisonment with hard labour for the charge of conspiracy and 36 months’ imprisonment with hard labour for the escape from custody, to run concurrently.
The two police officers were arrested on August 15, 2016 after the attack of the GCB Bullion Van at Maame Krobo in the Afram Plains.
The incident led to the death of the driver of the van one Daniel K. Sarpong, 52, while another police officer, who was escorting the vehicle, was also wounded in the attack.
However, there was no money in the bullion van at the time of the attack.
The convicts escaped when the vehicle transferring them stopped to refill at a fuel station at Nkawkaw.
The police officers were subsequently re-arrested.
One of the officers, Lance Corporal Kusi Abrokwah, was arrested earlier in a bush near Nkawkaw and handed over to police nearby.
The Police in the Eastern Region later confirmed the arrest of the second suspect after a meeting of the Regional Security Council (REGSEC) meeting. His name was however withheld at the time.
The irate residents set the police station on fire to protest against the escape of the officers.
Five injured persons, who were in critical condition, were rushed to the Presbyterian Hospital at Donkorkrom for treatment.
The residents marched to the police station to present a petition over recent robberies in the area.
The situation, however, got out of hand when the police started firing into the demonstrators.
The convicts, as well as their civilian accomplice Hafisu Mohammed aka Danjuma, would appear before court on January 10, 2017 for their trial.
At the previous sitting, General Lance Corporal Daniel Kissi Abrokwah dared Chief Inspector Robert Gyamfi, the prosecutor in the case, to swear if the case docket he claims had been forwarded to the Attorney-General for advice was not the one before him at the court.
The accused person was skeptical the said docket had reached the AG’s Office.
By Jeffrey De-Graft JohnsonÂ
jeffdegraft44@yahoo.com