Cape Coast, April 1, GNA - A circuit court in Cape Coast on Thursday defied pleas for mercy from an 18-year-old plumber, Ishahoa Safiano, and sentenced him to 25 years imprisonment for armed robbery. The convict, who had pleaded not guilty to the offense, created a spectacle in the court room when he likened himself to the Prodigal Son in the Bible and pleaded with the judge to tamper justice with mercy.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Khanin Osafo told the court that the complainant, the Market Queen at Kotokuraba Market, on 28 July, 2010 picked a taxi from the market.

On reaching a spot near the Kotokuraba slaughter house, the convict and one other accomplice now at large, stopped the taxi and attacked the driver with a knife and ordered the complainant to hand over her bag or be stabbed.

She resisted and the convict stabbed her and collected the bag which contained GHC 1,000, a phone valued at GHC 70, ECG prepaid card of GHC 5.00 and a bunch of keys and bolted. The complainant sustained multiple injuries on the shoulder and arm and she reported the incident to the police in Cape Coast. Chief Inspector Osafo said on Friday, September 17, 2010 the convict was arrested in a police swoop and was identified by the complainant.