An Accra Circuit Court has deferred the sentencing of an unemployed man, Prince Kofi Takyi, who has been accused of unlawful entry and stealing, to await his warrant of conviction or certified charges against him in other cases.
The court, presided over by Her Honour Ellen Ofei-Ayeh, deferred the sentencing after it was informed by the prosecuting officer, Chief Inspector Emmanuel Agyei, that the accused had been sentenced to jail twice.
The prosecutor indicated to the court that the accused, due to his frequent visits to the prison, had become a “friend of the police.”
C/Ins Agyei indicated that the accused was an ex-convict and had a criminal history at the Nima and Sakumono police stations. It is upon this submission that the court deferred the sentencing to March 3, 2023.
The prosecution, on Monday this week, brought eight criminal charges of unlawful entry and stealing against the accused. He said stealing had been the habit of the accused.
The accused pleaded guilty on all the counts, but after his explanation on three of the counts, a not guilty plea was entered by the court on his behalf.
The explanation he gave to the court was that he unlawfully entered the complainant’s house to steal because his wife gave birth and needed money for his son’s naming ceremony.
Although the court did not find these reasons enough defence, it held that the accused’s defence that he did not steal a phone, and even if he did, the CCTV camera should have captured him.
The court also considered the defence by the accused that he is a scrap dealer and always passed in front of the complainant’s house, therefore, the possibility of the CCTV cameras capturing him was high.
On another count of unlawful entry, the accused put up a defence that he entered the complainant’s premises in search of a job, because there was an ice-cream factory on the compound.
What this means is that the court will be trying him on the three counts that it entered not guilty for him.
However, the prosecutor withdrew those charges and the court discharged the accused on these three counts. The court was also told that the accused had returned some of the items he had stolen – heat clothing, heat gun, printer, and Samsung television.
The brief facts
In the brief facts presented before the court by C/Ins Agyei, the complainants in the case were Reginald Earl Allotey Pappoe, a businessman, and Asantewaa Yeboah, a business woman.
The complainants both reside at Teshie Nungua Estates, while the accused person, Prince Kofi Takyi, is unemployed and resides at Teshie Lascala.
According to him, on May 5, 2021, at 3:09am, the accused person scaled the wall of the complainants, entered their house, and took the handbag of complainant, Asantewaa Yeboah, through her bedroom window, containing a cash sum of GH¢1,000.00, a golden ladies necklace, valued at US$1,000.00, and a HP MFP laser jet 135 printer in their company’s juice factory, which is situated behind their main building, and later fled the scene.
The accused person was captured on a CCTV camera installed in the house during the act, and whilst efforts were being made to get him apprehended, the accused person again went to the house on July 28, 2022, at about 2:30am, and made away with another complainant, Reginald Earl Allotey Pappoe’s Samsung Galaxy S8 plus mobile phone.
The accused person was spotted by the complainant during the act, but managed to escape with the mobile phone from the house.
He continued that on Monday, February 20, 2023, at about 2:40am, the accused person again entered the house of the complainants, went into their juice factory, and made away with their company’s HP laser MFP 135W printer, a direct heat coding machine, and a heat gun.
The CCTV camera installed at the house again captured the accused person during the act, and on February 24, 2023, at about 2:45am, the accused person again entered the house of the complainants, went to their juice factory office, and made away with their 42 inches Samsung television, which was being used as a monitor for the CCTV cameras.
On the same day, February 24, 2023, at about 7:00pm, police intelligence led to the arrest of the accused person from his hideout at Teshie Lascalla, and during investigations the accused admitted the offences in his caution statement to the police.
