An 18-year-old mechanic who robbed female students of the Barekese Senior High School has been sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with hard labour by the Kumasi Circuit Court.
The convict, Kwaku Cosmos, pleaded guilty to all the seven counts preferred against him and was convicted by the court, presided over by Mrs Afia Adu-Amankwah.
One of his accomplices, Emmanuel Adu, also 18 and trader, pleaded not guilty to all the charges and was remanded in prison custody to reappear on July 20, 2015.
A third accomplice, whose name was only given as Ebenezer, is, however, at large. Sentence
Before sentencing Cosmos, Mrs Adu-Amankwah asked the accused, who had throughout the proceedings looked sombre and spoke very faintly, if he had any mitigation plea, but he replied in the negative.
However, the judge said she took into consideration the fact that he was young and unknown to the law, but “for using a weapon to commit the crime, the minimum under the law is 15 years”. Reaction
Cosmos broke down in tears and started wailing when the sentence was pronounced. Facts
According to the facts, as presented to the court by Chief Inspector Mrs Comfort Kyei Baffour, the convict, in the company of Adu and Ebenezer, on the night of June 23, 2015 entered the complainants’ dormitory armed with a locally made pistol and knives and ordered them to surrender all their money and mobile phones.
She said when one of the victims resisted, Emmanuel, who was holding a knife, slashed her left knee to put fear into the rest, who surrendered all their money and a mobile phone.
According to the prosecutor, the robbers managed to collect various amounts of money ranging from GH¢10 to GH¢120 from the girls. Chief Inspector Kyei Baffour said the robbers took to their heels when the victims raised an alarm.
She said Adu managed to scale a wall into the compound of the SDA Nursing Training College which shares a wall with the school and was arrested by the security guards on duty there.
She said when Adu was searched, a mobile phone and GH¢100 was found on him, saying the phone had since been identified by one of the victims as hers.
She said on June 30, 2015, Cosmos was arrested at his hideout at Ntiribuohu in the Afigya Kwabre District.
<<Print>>