A 21-year-old ex-convict has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment with hard labour by an Accra Circuit Court for robbery.
Gideon Martey Boye, a driver’s mate, pleaded guilty to the charges of conspiracy to rob and robbery before the court, presided over by Mr Francis Obiri.
His accomplice, Seth Adjei Okine, is an adolescent whose sentencing has been referred to the juvenile court, while a third partner is currently at large.
They were said to have attacked their victim with a knife and robbed her of her mobile phones.
Delivering judgement, the presiding judge said he took into consideration the fact that the convict was known to the court and the offensive weapon used for the crime.
A teary Boye pleaded with the court and said, “Oh senior man, please have mercy on me. I have a baby less than three months old to cater for”.
But the trial judge described him as a notorious robber who had not reformed after his previous sentence and needed to be disciplined.
“After being convicted for four months earlier, you did not change. You are notorious and need to be punished severely,” the judge said.
Prosecuting, Chief Superintendent of Police, Mr Duuti Tuaruka, told the court that the victim was a trader and lived at Teshie, a suburb of Accra.
He said on August 26, 2014, at about 3am, the victim was among a number of people observing the festival of the people of Teshie when the convict, together with his accomplices, pulled out a knife and collected her mobile phones but the victim’s shout for help attracted sympathisers to the scene.
Mr Tuaruka said sensing danger, the third accomplice quickly gave the phone to Okine and they took to their heels. However, the people run after them, arrested Boye and Okine and handed them over to the police, he added.
Chief Superintendent Tuaruka said the police retrieved the phones from their pockets but efforts to apprehend the third accused person proved futile.
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