Armed Robbers Jailed 90 Years

THREE ARMED robbers were yesterday sentenced to a total of 90 years� imprisonment by an Accra Circuit court after the trial judge, Eric Kyei Baffuor, found them guilty of robbery charges. The convicts were said to have snatched a car from a health worker working with the Achimota Hospital in a town near Pokuase when she was returning home from work. After eight months� trial, two of the convicts, Shadrack Efan Amos, and Elvis Kwadwo Darko, traders, received 40 years each, on charges of conspiracy and robbery, while the third convict, Mark Ampofo, a driver whose car was used for the robbery, received 10 years on similar charges. The trial judge, in his ruling, described the robbers as seasoned criminals who he observed attempted to throw dust into the eyes of the court when they testified to the fact that they were not guilty of the offences. Ansah Agyeman, who was tried with the others, was acquitted and discharged but just after he could leave the court premises as a free man, he was re-arrested by the police to face another offence. One Frank Eshun was tried in absentia on a charge of dishonestly receiving stolen goods but was also acquitted and discharged. The judge observed that the prosecution failed to establish a case against the two accused persons. DSP Kofi Blagodzi, on the first appearance, informed the court that the victim was a health worker at Achimota Government hospital and lived at Kwabenya, a suburb of Accra. Shadrack Efan Amos, Elvis Kwadwo Darko, Mark Ampofo, and Ansah Agyeman are friends with no fixed place of abode. On August 19, 2010 at about 6:30pm, the victim had closed from work and was driving her unregistered Saturn Vue 4�4 vehicle home. However, on reaching a section of the road, she parked her car to buy a packet of sachet water. While waiting for the water, Shadrack, Elvis and Mark, who were armed with locally-manufactured pistol and were trailing her, suddenly got down from their taxi and ordered her at gunpoint to sit at the back seat. Elvis reportedly took the ignition key and drove the victim�s car to Katapor village, near Pokuase, where they abandoned the victim and bolted with her car. In addition, they took away her driving licence, CDs, documents and an unspecified amount of money. Afterwards, they were said to have gone to Ansah�s house at Addokrom near Nsawam, where he provided them with a fake registration number, roadworthy certificate and Insurance Sticker. The convicts then sold the car to Frank Eshun at GH�15,000, and he, in turn, re-sprayed the vehicle from its original Ash colour to black. On February 22, Shadrack was arrested following a tip-off and he mentioned the rest who already were in custody as his accomplices. The police have since retrieved the vehicle from Frank.