An accused person in a robbery at Ho Area 51 in the Volta Region, Yao Wlako, urinated profusely in the dock when he was arraigned before the Ho Circuit Court on Tuesday, April 18, 2023.
The urine was in such large volume that it filled the dock and ran into the courtroom and adjoining corridor , compelling some people to leave the courtroom and corridor to avoid the smell.
Wlako was one of the two accused persons who allegedly broke into the house of a married couple at Ho Area 51 and robbed them of their belongings at gunpoint after tying them up and using a hot pressing iron to burn their bodies .
Wlako, 30, was in the dock with Emmanuel Boni, 24, his alleged accomplice.
They were jointly charged with conspiracy to commit robbery, robbery, causing unlawful damage, unlawful entry and causing harm. Both pleaded not guilty to all the five counts.
It was when their pleas were being taken that Wlako urinated , soaking his jeans trousers.
Chief Inspector Agnes Ahiable, who represented the republic, told the court presided over by Mr Felix Datsomor that the incident took place at about 1.30 a.m. on March 13, this year.
According to the prosecution, Wlako resided at Agbogbloshie in Accra, while Boni lived at Peki-Avetile in the Volta Region.
The prosecutor said on the eve of the robbery, the two men met at Peki-Avetile before travelling to Ho.
She said the accused persons entered the house of the couple while they were asleep with their baby, adding that Wlako was holding a pistol.
According to the prosecutor, the men cut the nets of the windows of the house but realised the windows were fortified, and so they used a screwdriver to open the security door at the rear of the building and gained access to the kitchen.
They then entered the bedroom, where Wlako held the man firmly onto the bed.
The prosecutor said after a short while, Wlako picked the pressing iron which he had heated earlier in the living room to burn the arms, shoulders and back of the man and his wife who also woke up during the attack.
They are also said to have burnt the thigh of the woman with the pressing iron.
“The two men then cut the cord of the iron and used it to tie the legs of the man and used a sponge to tie the arms of the woman from behind. Afterwards, they dragged the couple into the washroom and locked them inside, ”Chief Inspector Ahiable said.
According to the prosecutor, the accused persons then ransacked the house and took a laptop valued at GH¢8,000, an iPhone valued at GH ¢13,000, a Samsung tablet, valued at GH¢6,000 and Techno phone valued at GH¢200.
“The armed men also helped themselves to a quantity of jewellery valued at GH¢10,000, and one gold watch worth GH¢7,000, in addition to three other watches valued at GH¢1,800, a high-definition video camera valued at GH¢2,500 and a cash of GH¢7,000,” the prosecutor said.
The accused left with their booty but Boni left his cellular phone behind, she added.
The prosecutor said the accused persons returned to the house within 10 minutes to search for the phone but did not find it.
The next morning, the man reported the matter to the Area 51 Police and handed the cellular phone the accused persons left behind to the police.
Following intelligence gathering and based on the details of the cellular phone left behind by the accused persons, Wlako was later arrested at his hideout at Agbogbloshie and Boni was picked up at Peki-Avetile,” the prosecutor told the court.
Meanwhile, the prosecution stated that the iPhone 13 Pro Max, Samsung tablet, jewellery, video camera and Techno phone were retrieved from the accused persons.
Chief Inspector Ahiable added that following their arrest, the victims identified Wlako and Boni as the men who robbed them.
They also identified the retrieved items as those taken away by the accused persons.
The prosecution said that during interrogation, Wlako and Boni admitted robbing the couple.
Boni also admitted to the police that the cellular phone left behind belonged to him.
The court remanded the accused persons into prison custody to appear again on May 3, this year.
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