GBAWE ARMED ROBBERS JAILED 20 YEARS EACH

Four armed robbers, who killed a 26-year-old pastor during a robbery operation recently at Gbawe, have been sentenced to twenty years imprisonment each, after they confessed before an Accra Circuit Court to committing the crime.

The accused persons, Yaw Asamoah, 30, Kofi Yeboah, 30, Kwabena Ebo, 30, Osei Prempeh 23, who are facing a total of six counts of conspiracy to commit crime and causing harm and robbery in three different cases, are to serve 20 years in jail on each of the counts to run concurrently.

Kwabena Ebo, who pleaded guilty with explanation on the third robbery case, yesterday told the court, presided over by Patience Mills-Tetteh, that he had sinned against Ghana and the court, noting that he had no intention to commit a crime.

According to the Ebo, his action was as a result of bad friends, as he sought for forgiveness, noting “I will not do that again,” amidst tears.

The rest, Yaw Asamoah, Kofi Yeboah, and Osei Prempeh, pleaded not guilty to the third robbery act, and the court remanded them to re-appear on February, 2010.

The court further noted that the convict should be sent to the High Court to face a murder charge.

Yaw Asamoah also indicated to the court that the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) wrote down their statements, and asked them to accept it before the court. Additionally, Asamoah noted that the statement was not read to them, as the indication that they stole from an uncompleted house was not true. Asamoah further asserted that the house which they attacked was a completed house.

The prosecutor, Inspector Anthony Afetsi, had told the court that the accused persons robbed one of the complainants, Eric Aggrey-Carthy, who lived with his family in his uncompleted house at Red Top Donkuna, at New Bortianor in Accra.

According to the prosecutor, the accused persons, Yaw Asamoah and Kofi Yeboah, live at Nkankama near Begro in the Eastern Region, while Ebo Kwabena and Osei Prempeh also live at Kumasi Tanoso.

Inspector Afetsi told the court that on November 30, 2009, that at about 5:00 a.m., the four accused persons, armed with a pistol, cutlasses, crowbars and pump action guns, broke into the premises of the complainant, and attacked his house holding him hostage. They made away with his pump action gun, one full box of cartridges, his car keys, one laptop, some mobile phones, and cash amounting to GH¢70.

Not satisfied with the loot in the first robbery operation, the accused persons struck again a month later, the prosecutor disclosed.

The prosecutor noted that the accused persons attacked residents of Gbawe, robbed them of their personal belongings, and in the process killed one Pastor Nii Addy of Light House Chapel, before fleeing.

Inspector Afetsi further stated that the accused persons had earlier stormed the house of one Martin Adjei, at Red Top Donkuna, New Bortianor, and robbed the occupants of GH¢1,700, five mobile phones, and some personal effects of unknown value, after which they shot one Michael Agbeley in the leg.

The robbers also forcibly broke into the house of Kwadwo Antwi on November 13, 2009, and held the complainant, who is an auto mechanic, and his family hostage with guns, whilst they made away with laptops, four mobile phones, one detector machine, and an amount of GH¢160.

The robbers then subjected Mr. Antwi to severe beatings in the course of their operation.

They were then arrested on January 6, 2010, following a tip off, while preparing to rob another person.

Eric Aggrey-Carthy's pump action gun has since been retrieved.