THE REPUBLIC v. AKROFI VONTIER AND TEYE AGBEDAM

JUDGMENT

FACTS:

The accused person was arraigned before this court on the following charges;

Conspiracy to commit crime namely; Robbery contrary to Section 23(1) and 149 of

the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and two counts of robbery contrary to

Section 149 of Act 29.

The brief facts presented by the prosecution are that the complainants are

unemployed and reside at Sege whilst the accused person is a farmer and resides at

Toflokpo. The prosecution alleges that on the 5th day of June, 2022 about 7:00pm the

accused person and his accomplice, currently at large, were on board a Sanya

motorbike in Sege Township and when they saw the complainant Awudi Cynthia

Alormefa at Pentecost Church Junction, the accused person pointed a knife at her

and snatched her Lenovo mobile phone with her Voters Identity card inside the

phone case and sped off. The prosecution further alleges that the accused person and the suspect at large proceeded to Togblokukope where they pointed a knife at Janet

Kartey and snatched her Huawei mobile phone. The complainant shouted for help

and with the help of neighbours, the accused person was arrested. A search was

immediately conducted on the accused person and the Huawei phone and Lenovo

mobile phones were found on him and handed over to the police. The complainant

Awudi Cynthia Alormefa, heard of the arrest of the accused person, on 6th June,

2022, she went to the Police Station to identify her Lenovo mobile phone snatched

from her by the accused and his accomplice on the 5th day of June, 2022 at about

7:00pm. According to the prosecution, during investigations, the accused person

mentioned the name of one Teye Agbedam as his accomplice and led the police to

the place of abode of his accomplice and met his absence. Efforts are underway to

get the accomplice arrested. After investigations, the accused person was charged

with the offences and arraigned before this Court.

THE PLEA

The self-represented accused person pleaded guilty on counts 1 and two and not

guilty to count three. When the court enquired from the accused person whether he

understood the import of the guilty plea, he stated on record that he committed the

offence but he did not use knife as alleged by the prosecution. In view of the

equivocal plea of guilty on the first two counts and a plea of not guilty on the third

count, the court entered a plea of not guilty on all three counts for the prosecution to

prove the guilt of the accused p