An unemployed jailed 24 months for stealing

Sekondi, Dec. 13 GNA - A Sekondi District Magistrate's Court on Monday sentenced Lawrence Kojo Mawuli, an unemployed to 24 months imprisonment in hard labour for causing unlawful damage, unlawful entry and stealing. He pleaded not guilty to all three charges.

Prosecuting, Police Sergeant Andam Okyere said on March 3, this year, Mawuli, who had no specific place of abode, broke into the room of Mrs Martha Amoah, a hairdresser at Kweikuma near Sekondi, while she was at her saloon.

He said later, Mawuli also broke into the room of Asana Haruna, who also live in the same house with the complainant.

Sergeant Okyere said Mawuli hired a taxi, loaded his booty into it and bolted away.

He said a witness in the case saw the accused carrying personal effects from the house of the complainant into a taxi and took down the number of the vehicle.

Sergeant Okyere said a neighbour, who heard a dog at the house of complainant barking strongly went to Haruna and asked her to go home and find out what was happening.

He said when Haruna got to house, she found the door to her room opened and her two sound systems were stolen.

Sergeant Okyere said the complainant was summoned from her saloon and on entering her room found it ransacked and some items stolen. He said items stolen from the two rooms included six pieces of cloth, 300,000 cedis cash, two sound systems, one DVD video deck, three video cameras, one camera, a mobile phone and four car speakers.

Sergeant Okyere said after the incident was reported to the Police, the witness gave the number of the taxi to the Police and the taxi driver was arrested and he assisted the Police by identifying the accused. He said during interrogation, the accused denied any involvement in the theft although at the same time, he was wearing jeans trousers, shirt and sandals, which were some of the stolen items from the complainant and Haruna.

Sergeant Okyere said the accused told the Police that he bought his clothes for 270,000 cedis from one Ekow, who lives at Kwesimintsim but at Kwesimintsim the Police learnt that Ekow left town some years ago. He said other witnesses, who saw the accused conveying the stolen items into the taxi identified him and was charged with the offences after investigations.