An Accra Circuit Court has set to sentence of unemployed man, Prince Kofi Takyi, who has been accused of unlawful entry and  stealing tomorrow.

The court, presided over by Her Honour Ellen Ofei-Ayeh, deferred the sentence after it was informed by the prosecuting officer Chief Inspector Emmanuel Ohene Agyei that the accused had been to sentenced to jail twice.

The prosecutor indicated to the court that the accused, due to his frequent visits to the prison, he has become a “friend of the police.”

C/Ins Agyei indicated that the accused is an ex-convict and he had criminal history at the Nima and Sakumono police stations.

It is upon this submission that the court deferred the sentence to March 3, 2023.

The prosecution, yesterday, brought eight criminal charges of unlawful entry and stealing against the accused. He said stealing had been the habit of the accused.

The accused pleaded guilty on all the counts but after his explanation on three of the counts, not guilty plea was entered by the court on his behalf.

Some explanation he gave to the court included he unlawfully entered the complainants’ house to steal because his wife had a discourage and needed money, and also that his wife gave birth and needed money for his son’s naming ceremony.

Although the court did not find these reasons as enough defence, it held that the accused defence that he did not steal a phone and even if he did,  the CCTV camera should have captured him.

The court also considered the defence by the accused that he is a scrap dealer and always passes infront of the complainant house, therefore, the possibility of the CCTV cameras capturing him was high.

On another count of unlawful entry, the accused put up a defence that he entered the complainants premises in search of a job, because there is an ice-cream factory on the compound.

What this means is that the court will be trying him on the three counts that it entered not guilty for him.
However, the prosecutor withdrew those charges and the court discharged the accused on these three counts. 

The court was also told that the accused has returned some of the items he had stolen – heat clothing, heat gun, printer and Samsung Television.

The brief facts

The complainants both reside at the Teshie Nungua Estates while the accused person, Prince Kofi Takyi, is unemployed and resides at Teshie Lascala. 

According to him, on May 5, 2021 at 3:09am, the accused person scaled the wall of the complainants, entered their house and took the handbag of complainant Asantewaa Yeboah through her bedroom window containing cash sum of GH¢1, 000.00, a golden ladies necklace, valued at US$1,000.00 and an HP MFP laser jet 135 printer in their company’s juice factory, which is situated behind their main building and later fled the scene. 

The accused person was captured on a CCTV camera installed in the house during the act and whilst efforts were being made to get him apprehended, the accused person again went to the house on July 28, 2022 at about 2:30am, and made away with complainant Reginald Earl Allotey Pappoe’s Samsung Galaxy S8 plus mobile phone. 

The accused person was spotted by the complainant during the act but managed to escape with the mobile phone from the house. 

He continued that on Monday, February 20, 2023 at about 2:40am, the accused person again entered the house of the complainants, went into their juice factory and made away with their company’s HP laser MFP 135W printer, a direct heat coding machine and a heat gun. 

The CCTV camera installed at the house again captured the accused person during the act and on February 24, 2023 at about 2:45am, the accused person again entered the house of the complainants, went to their juice factory office and made away with their 42 inches Samsung television, which was being used as a monitor for the CCTV cameras. 

On the same day February 24, 2023 at about 7;00pm, police intelligence led to the arrest of the accused person from his hideout at Teshie Lascalla and during investigations, the accused admitted offence in his caution statement to the police