Unemployed jailed five years for stealing telephone cables

Solomon Hagan, alias Kweku Abeiku, 20, was on Monday jailed five years by a circuit court at Cape Coast for causing unlawful damage and stealing 56 spans of telephone cables valued at GH¢80,000 (800 million cedis) belonging to Ghana Telecom.

Hagan pleaded guilty and was convicted on his own plea.

In the dock with him was Farouk Umaru, a 52-year old scrap dealer, who was charged with dishonestly receiving 63 metres of the stolen

He pleaded not guilty and was remanded in custody to reappear on December 10, 2007.

Prosecuting chief inspector Hope Azasoo told the court, presided over by Mr Richard Asiedu-Badu, that for sometime now, there have been thefts of telephone cables belonging to the company and that last Thursday, workers at a washing bay in Cape Coast led by one Mr George Nyame, saw Hagan stealing some cables, but he escaped when they attempted to arrest him.

He said Hagan again returned to the scene the next day and was about to cart away the cables, when he was again spotted by the workers who questioned him.

The court heard that Hagan denied ownership of the cables, which were lying beside him, but was he taken to the police station.

Chief inspector Azasoo said Hagan admitted stealing the cables and during police investigations, he took the police to a house in Jukwa near Cape Coast, where he said he had already taken some of the cables.

However, the police found nothing when they searched the house.

Chief Inspector Azasoo said when the police were sending Hagan back to Cape Coast, he jumped off the vehicle into a nearby bush but was re-arrested with the help of some people around.

He later confessed that he had taken the cables to his room in Cape Coast and led the police to retrieve them.

Hagan told the police he sold the cables at 15,000 cedis per five metres to Umaru, who admitted buying them.

Chief Inspector Azasoo said Hagan also led the police to an orange farm near Cape Coast, where large quantities of the cables were retrieved, in addition to a weighing scale, a pair of pliers and a sword.