Unemployed Man Sentenced 10yrs For Robbing
By Helena Selby
An Accra High Court has sentence a student to 10 years imprisonment in hard labour for robbing Rosemary Graham of the University of Ghana, with a cutlass.
The convict, Bright Darko, alias Opete, who acted together with one Kwame Alaye, currently at large, attacked the complainant late in the evening, when she was heading home from work and made away with her hand bag.
The complainant, however, during the attack, was able to recognize her assailant as her former classmate.
Opete, who had earlier pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy to commit crime, contrary to section 23 (1) of act 29/60 and robbery, contrary to section 149 of act 29/60, was proven guilty by the prosecution after about two years of vigorous trial.
The court, presided over by Mr. Charles Adjei Wilson, convicted Opete, after the prosecution had given enough evidence to prove its case.
According to the court, the accused person was sentence to a minimum of 10 years because he is a first and young offender.
The facts of the case as put out by the prosecution was that on August 7, 2010, at about 10:30pm, the complainant was on her way home from work, when upon reaching a spot on the Tabora road, off the motorway, Opete and his accomplice attacked the complainant with a cutlass.
The State Attorney, Mary Arthur, told the court that they made away with her hand bag, containing a student and a voter’s identity card, Samsung mobile phone, a cash sum of GH¢20, and bolted towards the second accused person’s house at Kwashibu, a suburb of Kwashiman in Accra.
She stated that despite the complainant being in shock and fear, she could recognize the first accused person, who was her former school mate at Kubison School.
According to the prosecutor, on August 8, 2010, the complainant made a formal complaint at the Kwashiman police station and Opete was arrested, where he admitted to committing the offence during interrogation.
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