Try asking the following...
Try asking the following...
March 14, 2023
CIRCUIT COURT
GHANA
CORAM
JUDGEMENT:
The prosecution called five witnesses in proof of its case. Three of the witnesses were
students of the University Cape Coast and resident in student hostels. The other witness
was a member of the community watch dog community that arrested the accused
person and the last witness was the police investigator. The evidence of the three
students was very similar. They all testified that they awoke on the dawn of the 13th of
February 2023 and realized that they could not find their phones and laptops. They
checked their doors but quickly realized their locks had not been broken. Upon
checking their windows they realized the netting had been cut and the metal bars that
protected it had been expanded. A few hours later, they were informed that a thief had
been caught with some electronic gadgets in his possession and was in the custody of
the police. At the police station they were shown the accused person and they found
their phones and laptops in his possession.
The third witness of the prosecution a member of the community watch dog testified
that he and other members noticed the accused with his accomplices standing behind
one of the hostels. When they approached them they all took to their heels. They were
however able to apprehend the accused person who had in his possession a bag pack.Inside the bag pack were found the items pictured in Exhibit C series and exhibit D, the
electronic gadgets and implements used by the thieves.
The final witness of prosecution was the investigator; her evidence was that the accused
was arrested by members of the community watch dog and in his possession was found
the items that did not belong to him. She tendered his statements to the police and in
them the accused denied stealing the items.
The accused stated in his defence that he had no intentions of stealing and that he only
came to Kwawprow to meet one Nana Yaw who had promised him a job. Nana Yaw
asked him to wait for a friend and when that friend came they told him to wait for some
time. When it was evening they asked him to follow them and before he knew it they
were entering peoples rooms and stealing their items. When he protested one of them
told him to leave but the other asked him to stay. Before he could leave, the watchdog
members descended on them. The other two were able to get away while he was
arrested.
Section 125 of Act 29 defines stealing as:
“A person steals if he dishonestly appropriates a thing of which he i
AI Generated Summary
In this Circuit Court judgment, Her Honour Veronique Praba Tetteh convicted an accused apprehended near University of Cape Coast hostels after thefts of phones and laptops. Three students testified that on the dawn of 13 February 2023, their windows had been tampered with and their devices were missing; later at the police station they identified their property in the accused’s possession. A community watchdog member recounted how the accused and accomplices fled but the accused was caught carrying a backpack containing electronic gadgets and implements. The investigator confirmed the arrest and recovery; the accused denied stealing, claiming he was misled by associates while seeking work from Nana Yaw. Applying Section 125 of Act 29, Baah v The Republic, and an appropriation definition drawn from Section 122(2), the court found appropriation and dishonest intent proven beyond reasonable doubt. Considering recovery as mitigation but planned theft and danger to the public as aggravation, the court imposed two years’ imprisonment.