The convicts
Two young men have been jailed for a total of five years’ imprisonment for stealing goods worth a total of GH¢44,556.31 from their employer.
The two, Nathaniel Ekow Anderson and Patrick Semabe according to court records on July 26, 2020 stole goods belonging 2PA Company Limited to the tune of GH¢13,332.23 and GH¢31,224.0 respectively.
This was after the two had been dragged to the police for similar offences in December, 2019 for collecting goods worth GH¢16,089.89 and GH¢36,561.43 and failed to account for them.
The accused persons were charged with four counts of stealing contrary to Section 124(1) of Criminal and Other Offenses Act, 1960 (Act 29).
The prosecution led by Chief Inspector George Anane Antwi during the trial called three witnesses – Patricia Acquaye Pappoe and Derrick Duodu who are the complainants as well the case investigator to prove its case.
It was the prosecution’s case that the goods entrusted to the convicts could not be found and the money the goods should have drawn if sold, could also not be found.
The convicts in their police caution statement tendered before the Weija Circuit Court admitted the losses but framed it as business losses, rather than a willful misappropriation on their part.
The court presided over by His Honour Bernard Bentil at the end of the trial found that the prosecution had made a prima facie against the accused persons and convicted them on all four counts of stealing.
The court said it had noticed that it was not the first time the convicts had been involved in the incident as a previous occurrence saw them sent to the police station where an agreement was reached for them to defray the losses through deductions from their salaries.
The court held that the accused persons admitted the offence in their defence and also took notice of the “naiveté of the two accused persons and the poverty of the defence that was employed. It is clear that they were in possession of the goods that are now unaccounted for”, the court found.
The court therefore, convicted the two on the strength of their own admissions but in sentencing them took into consideration the fact that they are first time offenders “with their whole life ahead of them, the court will attempt to be lenient with them”.
Nathaniel Ekow Anderson was sentenced to two years each for the two counts of stealing to run concurrently while Patrick Semabe was sentenced to three years each for the two counts of stealing also to run concurrently.
In addition to the jail terms, the two are to refund the entire money they stole to the complainants.
BY Gibril Abdul Razak