Court jails illegal miner over theft of gold detector machine valued at GH¢13,000

The Tarkwa District Court One has sentenced a 21-year-old illegal miner, Kwadwo Asenso Godden, to one day’s imprisonment for stealing a gold detector machine valued at GH¢13,000.

Presiding over the case, Mr. Charles Owusu Nsiah also fined Godden GH¢1,200, with a default penalty of three months of hard labor in prison.

Godden pleaded guilty to charges of unlawful entry and stealing.

Presenting the case, Police Sergeant Enoch Assan-Donkoh informed the court that both the complainant, Rambow Benjamin, and the convict reside in Atwereboanda, a community in the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality.

According to the prosecution, Benjamin stored his gold detector machine in his room after work. However, on October 20, 2024, he discovered it had been stolen.

Following inquiries, Benjamin received information implicating Godden in the theft and reported the matter to the police.

During interrogation, Godden confessed to the crime and led authorities to an abandoned, uncompleted building in Atwereboanda, where he had hidden the stolen gold detector machine.

-GNA