A motor rider, who robbed a man and his family at gunpoint at Oshiyie, near Accra, has been sentenced to 22 years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court.
The suspect was said to be in the company of two accomplices who are now at large.
His sentence was after the court had found Romeo Mensah, aka Kwame and Amenye, guilty on the charge of conspiracy to rob and robbery at the end of a three-year trial.
With Michael Nii Cato, aka Mikay and Kweku Ahale, aka Kwame America, he robbed the complainant of his Honda Pilot vehicle, with registration number GW 7371- 17 valued at $56,000.
Other items taken away by Mr Mensah from Abdul- Basit Munagah, were an iPhone 7 plus, One iPod, an Apple wristwatch, a gold chain valued at $3,500 and other personal effects.
The court, presided over by Mrs Afia Owusuaa Appiah, also sentenced Alhassan Yussif and Aminu Bawa to 18 years imprisonment each on the charge of dishonestly receiving.
The court ordered that Yussif, an ex-convict serving 25 years since the year 2018 on a similar charge of robbery, serve his sentences consecutively.
This means that Yussif, after serving the 25-year jail term handed down by the Kasoa Ofaakor Court, would serve his 18-year jail term imposed by the Circuit Court in Accra.
Before sentences were passed, the Prosecution, led by Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Sylvester Asare, prayed the court to hand down a harsh sentence to serve as a deterrent to like-minded people.
ASP Asare suggested to the court to keep the accused away from the good people living within the community.
Narrating the facts during the proceedings, ASP Asare said in November 2017, the Police had information that a gang of robbers had attacked and robbed Mr Munagah, an information technologist, residing at Oshiyie, near Kokrobite, in the Greater Accra Region.
The prosecutor said Mr Amenye and his accomplices were members of a gang robbery based in both Accra and Tamale.
He said when they decided to rob Mr Manugah, Mr Mensah trailed him to his house and planted an AK 47 rifle and locally made pistols in a nearby bush.
On November 25, 2017, suspect Ahale, Courage Mishio Dodzi, aka Chi, and another, laid ambush around Mr Manugah’s house, near the spot where Mr Mensah had hidden the weapons.
The Prosecution said at about 19:30 hours when Mr Manugah and his wife returned home, Cato and Ahale entered the house, attacked his security man and overpowered him.
He said Dodzi, who was masked and armed with the AK 47 rifle; and Ahale who was also masked and armed with the locally manufactured pistol ordered Mr Manugah to surrender his vehicle and all other personal effects.
However, his resistance infuriated Dodzi, who opened fire at him but missed.
Ahale also gave warning shots to scare the victim and the others around.
In the process, the robbers took away the vehicle and other items.
The Prosecution said Mr Mensah, who had parked his motorbike at a junction, alighted and rode it, thereby leading his accomplices.
Investigations led to the arrest of the culprits and Mr Manugah’s Apple watch and spectacles were retrieved from Dodzi’s hideout.
The Prosecutor said Alhassan Yussif was arrested on December 31, 2017, while in possession of a stolen Toyota RAV4.
Yussif, he said, confessed that Aminu Bawa instructed him to bring the complainant’s Honda Pilot to Tamale after a successful robbery operation.
On January 22, 2018, the Prosecution said, Aminu was arrested at Agbogboloshie and during interrogation, he confirmed that Yussif brought the vehicle to him in Tamale and he (Aminu) led the Police to retrieve the vehicle in his house.
In the case of Mensah, the Prosecution said, on October 2, 2018, investigations led to his arrest at Adawso in the Eastern Region, where he had gone to sell another vehicle related to a crime.
Mensah, the Prosecution said, admitted to taking part in the robbery during the interrogation, but denied the confession in his caution statement.
ASP Asare said the vehicle had since been retrieved and handed over to him.