Three armed robbers, who attacked the Acting Director General of the Police Criminal Investigations Department (CID), ACP Maame Yaa Tiwaa Addo–Danquah, at her residence at Kwabenya in Accra, have been sentenced to 24 years’ imprisonment each by an Accra circuit court.
The robbers – Abdulai Rashid aka Game Boy, 24, driver; Kwame Konadu, 21 and Benjamin Aidoo aka Ice Tee, 39 – were hauled before the court for one count of conspiracy and four counts of robbery.
Two others – Emmanuel Darko and Kwaku Tawia – who were also standing trial for dishonestly receiving stolen goods, were acquitted and discharged.
The court, presided over by Aboagye Tandoh, said he “admired the courage of the convicts to attack and rob a high ranking police officer. I am wondering what will happen to ordinary citizens like you and I.”
He said they must be sent away for some time to tame their irrepressible courage and also “free the police to provide peace for the people of Ghana as they do, sometimes at the peril of their lives.”
He therefore slapped the three with 24 years’ imprisonment for each count, to run concurrently.
In the case of the two who bought the stolen items, Justice Tandoh said although they lacked discretion in their dealings with the robbers, the prosecution could not prove beyond reasonable doubt that they received the items dishonestly.
He therefore acquitted and discharged them.
Facts
The robbers attacked and robbed the senior police officer, then Deputy Director General of Police Intelligence and Professional Standards (PIPS) and her family at gunpoint at about 1:30 am on Tuesday, November 1, 2016.
They broke into the house by scaling the wall and forced open the slidig door while she and her family were asleep.
The suspects warned the victims to comply with their directives or be killed.
They then marched ACP Tiwaa into her bedroom and ransacked the place.
They took her laptop, three iPads and seven mobile phones and cash (in cedis and foreign currencies) and later ordered the police officer and her husband to remove their wedding rings.
But because the ring was so tight on her finger, she found it difficult to remove it.
That however, did not discourage the robbers who managed to pull it off.
The convicts then asked her to surrender all their jewels but the police officer told them she did not deal in jewels and therefore did not have any jewels for them.
This did not go down well with the robbers who then asked her to surrender her pistol but she told them that she did not have one.
They then subjected her to severe beatings before leaving the house.
Benjamin Aidoo was arrested on November 3, 2016, with ACP Tiwaa’s laptop, iPads and mobile phones.
He led the police to apprehend Abdulai Rashid and Kwame Konadu – his accomplices.
One of the mobile phones, Samsung, was retrieved from Konadu.
The three then led the police to the shop of the goldsmith (Kwaku Tawiah) where they usually sell stolen wedding rings after robbery operations.
Upon interrogations, it came to light that the suspects sold the rings to Tawiah at GH¢580.
Tawiah, at the time of his arrest, according to the police, had already melted the rings and sold it to another customer.
<<Print>>