In order to wait for his warrant of conviction or approved charges against him in other cases, an Accra Circuit Court has postponed the sentence of a jobless man named Prince Kofi Takyi who has been charged with breaking into an unlocked building and stealing.
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When the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Emmanuel Agyei, reminded the court that the defendant had already received two prison sentences, the court—presided over by Her Honor Ellen Ofei-Ayeh—deferred the sentencing.
The prosecutor told the judge that the defendant had grown close to the police as a result of his regular trips to the prison.
The accused was a convicted felon who had a criminal record at the Nima and Sakumono police stations, according to C/Ins Agyei. On the basis of this argument, the court decided to postpone the sentencing until March 3, 2023.
On Monday of this week, the prosecution filed eight criminal complaints of theft and unauthorized entrance against the defendants. He claimed that the accused had a propensity of stealing.
The accused submitted a guilty plea on each count, but the court entered a not guilty plea on his behalf after hearing his explanation on three of the counts.
He explained to the court that he broke into the complainant’s home illegally to steal since his wife had just given birth and needed money for the naming ceremony for his son.
The accused’s defense, according to the court, was that he did not steal a phone and even if he did, the CCTV camera should have caught him, even if it was not enough of a defense.
The court also took into account the accused’s argument that because he frequently passed the complainant’s house as a scrap dealer, it was likely that he would be caught on camera.
On a different allegation of unauthorized entrance, the accused claimed that he had entered the complainant’s property because there was an ice cream factory there and he was looking for a job.
This indicates that the three counts on which the court found him not guilty will be the ones on which he is being tried.
But the prosecutor dropped the allegations, and the court exonerated the defendant on these three counts. Additionally, the accused was said to have given back a few of the stolen goods, including heat-resistant gear, a heat gun, a printer, and a Samsung television.
Businessmen Reginald Earl Allotey Pappoe and Asantewaa Yeboah were the complainants in the case, according to the succinct facts C/Ins Agyei gave to the court.
While the accused, Prince Kofi Takyi, lives at Teshie Lascala and is unemployed, the complainants are both residents of Teshie Nungua Estates.
He claims that on May 5, 2021, at 3:09 am, the accused person scaled the complainants’ wall, broke into their home, and took the handbag of complainant Asantewaa Yeboah through her bedroom window. The handbag contained GH1,000.00 in cash, a golden ladies necklace worth GH1,000.00, and an HP MFP laser jet 135 printer. He then allegedly fled the scene from their company’s juice factory, which is located behind their main building.
He added that the suspect broke into the complainants’ home once more on Monday, February 20, 2023, at around 2:40am, went to their juice factory, and stole their company’s HP laser MFP 135W printer, a direct heat coding machine, and a heat gun.
On February 24, 2023, at around 2:45 am, the accused person once more entered the complainants’ home, went to their juice factory office, and stole their 42-inch Samsung television, which was being used as a monitor for the CCTV cameras. The CCTV camera installed at the house again captured the accused person during the act.
Police intelligence enabled the accused to be apprehended from his hiding place at Teshie Lascalla on February 24, 2023, around 7:00 p.m. Over the course of the inquiry, the accused admitted the offenses in his caution statement to the police.
