Armed robber sentenced 50 years jail term

The Tema Circuit Court 'A' has sentenced 28-year-old Francis Akpanya Sackey to 50 years imprisonment for robbery.

Sackey, who was a security man at Pioneer Food Company in Tema, was sentenced based on his own plea of guilty “with explanation” to two counts of robbery and possessing fire arms without authorisation.

The court presided over by Mrs Lydia Osei Marfo sentenced Sackey to 50 years each for the two counts to run concurrently.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) Olivia Turkson, the Tema Regional Police Public Relations Officer, told the Ghana News Agency that the convict said the gun was given to him by an ex-soldier three years ago.

ASP Turkson said Sackey told the court that due to economic pressures he decided to use the gun to threaten taxi drivers to make some money from them.

He said he killed the taxi driver who was found dead on the Tema Manhean cemetery road, saying that his gun went off and killed him when he (Sackey) attempted to rob him.

ASP Turkson stated that the Police was yet to charge him for the murder of the taxi driver as the Command was consulting the Attorney General's Department for advice.

Sackey was arrested by the Tema Regional Police Patrol Team at Kpone junction at about 0200 hours on October 1.

Sackey was driving a taxi when he was arrested and police suspected the taxi might have been stolen when they noticed the taxi had a number plate on the front but none at the rear.

A further search on the car revealed one locally manufactured pistol, two live cartridges, one sharp knife and one BBL multimedia subwoofer system.

Other items found in the taxi were one portable DVD player, two pairs of military camouflage shorts and two screw drivers.

The police said on the same day at about 0700 hours, information reached the Command about a dead body on the Tema Manhean cemetery road which links Kpone to the Manhean.

Police went to the scene and a search on the body revealed a driver's licence, two Zenith Bank and Data Link University ID cards bearing the name: Edward Jojo Acquah, aged 28 years.

One Ms Anita Aklamamu went to the police station and identified the taxi as hers and the deceased as the driver she employed to drive the taxi.

Ms Aklamanu told the Police that the original car number was GE 3532 X and not the GT 8733 Q found on it at the time of the arrest.