The convicts
A Circuit Court in Bekwai in the Ashanti Region has sentenced Yaw Danso, 22, and Francis Obeng, 17, to a total of 28 years’ imprisonment for conspiracy, stealing and causing damage to a jackpot machine valued at GH¢5,000.
The two stole the jackpot machine belonging to their neighbour called Dora Asantewaa at Nkyekyeam, a community in the Bekwai Municipality.
The court, presided over by Fredrick Nawura, sentenced them after they all pleaded guilty to all the charges.
The prosecutor, Detective Inspector Stephen Ofori, told the court that the complainant, Dora Asantewaa, is a trader and operator of jackpot machine at Nkyekyeam.
According to him, the convicts, a labourer and barber, are neighbours of the complainant.
The police prosecutor narrated that Dora, who mostly relied on the duo to carry the jackpot to and from the game centre, on September 28, 2018, left the machine behind and went to sleep.
Yaw Danso and Francis Obeng, at about 10:30 pm, sneaked into the game centre and carried the jackpot machine away.
Inspector Ofori said the convicts abandoned the jackpot in a nearby bush after they took all the money in the machine.
Police investigations led to the arrest of the two convicts, but they denied any wrongdoing during interrogation, he added.
The convicts, who later admitted the offences, were later arraigned before the court after investigations.
From Ernest Kofi Adu, Kumasi