Eight persons accused of phone theft granted bail

An Accra Circuit Court has granted a GHC50,000.00 bail with two sureties each to eight persons accused of stealing cellular phones.

The Court was presided over by Mr Samuel Bright Acquah and ordered that one of their sureties each be a civil servant.

They are to report to the police twice a week until further notice.

The matter was adjourned to March 14, 2023.

The accused persons are Nelson Klu, Joseph Mensah, also known as Agya, Twum Alexander, best known as Asakapaluta, Stephen Kwadwo Osei, Peter Kwame or Essien, Rocky Kingsley, Prince Nwankamma or Felix G and Okoro Gospel, popularly known as SM or Kid.

All the accused persons are mobile phone sellers and are facing varied charges such as abetment to commit crime and stealing.

They are between the ages of 18 and 36 years.

Presenting the facts, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Evans Kese told the court, presided over by Mr Samuel Bright Acquah that the complainants were police from the Police Intelligence Directorate (PID), Police Headquarters Accra.

He said the accused persons claimed to be mobile phone sellers at Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Abeka-Lapaz.

DSP Kese said that on February 7, 2022, a team from PID embarked on an operation in the areas mentioned above to clamp down on mobile phone-related crimes, which were rampant in the areas.

In the process, Badu was arrested with iPhone SR and its duplicate fake phone, and he allegedly attempted to use the phones to defraud innocent people.

The others were also arrested at the Kwame Nkrumah Circle with 39 assorted stolen mobile phones, he said, allegedly.

DSP Kese said the accused persons were subsequently, arraigned, adding that the exhibits had been forwarded to the Cyber Crime Unit for analytical examination to know the owners of the phones.

DSP Kesse opposing the bail said the stolen phones had been forwarded to the Cyber Crime Unit of the Ghana Police Service for assessment, adding that the matter was also for further investigations.

The defence counsel, making an application for bail said every offence was bailable but was at the discretion of the court.

He said the accused persons had pleaded not guilty and if the Police of the Cyber Crime Unit after investigations found out the phones were theirs (for the accused persons), they would have suffered for nothing.

The defence counsel pleaded that they should be made to deposit passports or Ghana cards so as not to be a flight risk.