Armed robber praised and then jailed

An armed robber who failed to heed the advice of a colleague to shoot and kill a lady during a robbery act in Kumasi won at least some level of commendation from the state prosecutor and the trial court before he was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment in hard labour.

Before the sentence, the State Attorney, Mr Kyei Baffour Brentuoh told the court presided over by Mr Justice Adu Ampomah that much as he abhorred robbery, the fact that the convict, Kwadwo Sarpong, alias Blackman refused to heed the order of his colleague to shoot and kill their victim was a humane gesture, which the court should consider when passing sentence.

Mr Justice Ampomah took note of the State Attorney's statement and consequently sentenced the robber to 10 years imprisonment in hard labour.

According to the State Attorney, at about 10.30 pm on January 24, 2007, some people were returning home from work in Kumasi and just a few meters to the house of one of them, three young men who were armed with locally manufactured pistols and knives emerged from a taxi, which had sped past them.

They attacked the people and succeeded in robbing them of two mobile phones valued at ¢6.5 million and cash of ¢3.5 million.

In the course of the robbery, one of the victims identified Sarpong and mentioned his name as 'Blackman'.

The prosecutor added that one of the armed robbers then ordered the accused to shoot and kill the lady but he did not heed the order. The victims then reported the matter to the police.

Mr Brentuoh said after a month, Sarpong was arrested and arraigned before the High Court.