A tiler and a carpenter who stole mobile phones and were caught on closed-circuit television (CCTV) were each sentenced to eight years in prison and hard labour by an Asokwa Circuit Court.
Prince Agyemang, 24, and Daniel Awunyo, 23, initially denied conspiring to steal and breaking into Augustine Akosah and Marcellus Marbell’s room without permission to steal their various cell phones, which were worth GHC18,200.00. However, they later admitted to the offences.
They acknowledged themselves in the CCTV footage of their act when it was played in open court at that point.
After a trial, they were found guilty and received the appropriate punishment.
Two of their accomplices are still at large in the interim.
The complainants were student nurses and residents of Atonsu-Kuwait, Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Stephen Ofori informed the court presided over by Mr. Fred Obikyere.
Agyemang and Awunyo, the prisoners, he claimed, worked as tilers and carpenters, respectively, and lived in the Atonsu S-Line. On April 11, 2023, at about 23:55 hours, the convicts conspired to steal from the complainants’ house at Atonsu-Kuwait.
As a result, while the complainants were sound asleep, they climbed the fence wall leading to their home and entered the property, according to the prosecution.
According to ASP Ofori, the inmates forced open the complainants’ sliding windows and used a mob stick covered in glue to pick their iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, iPhone 11, iPhone 14, and Nokia keypad phone.
The court was informed that additional items taken through the windows included a Samsung tablet and an unknown quantity of clothing.
The prosecution claims that Agyemang and Awunyo then made calls to their accomplices Dela and Rebel of Sokoban and Sawuah, respectively, to take the stolen cell phones for decoding.
According to ASP Ofori, the complainants filed a report at the Dompoase Police Station, and during the course of the investigation, the complainants provided police with the CCTV footage from their residence on the day of the incident because the activities of the convicts and their accomplices were recorded by the CCTV cameras.
This led to their capture at their hiding places at Atonsu S-Line, where the following items were recovered from them: iPhone 6, iPhone 6s, Nokia keypad mobile phone, Samsung tablet.
He said that the defendants admitted to the crimes in their cautioned statements and that the police had charged them with crimes based on the available evidence.
The complainants’ cell phones were being sought after, and the court was informed that efforts were being made to capture their collaborators.