Ataa Ayi hurled before court again • For allegedly robbing 78-yr-old of GH¢1,500

Wednesday, February 18, 2009 (Page 3 Lead)

Aryee Aryeetey, alias Ataa Ayi ,was yesterday hurled before the Accra circuit court alongside two others for allegedly robbing a 78-year-old man of GH¢1,500.
Ataa Ayi, who is currently serving a 70-year jail term and another 20-year term for robbery, was alleged to have committed the offence on July 24, 2004.
Ataa Ayi, who appeared to have grown lean, wore a white T-shirt to the court and looked indifferent when a prosecution witness was called to testify in the case.
He was charged with two counts of conspiracy and robbery, along with Michael Tagoe and Mohammed Musah Azangbe.
They all pleaded not guilty to the offence but were refused bail by the court.
A fourth accused person, Prince Isaac Arthur, is said to be deceased.
The accused persons were alleged to have committed the offence with a Honda Civic car, with registration number AS 3078 R.
The first prosecution witness, Mr Sam M. Darko, said he had been sent by his employers to cash the GH¢1,500 at the Osu Branch of Barclays Bank.
According to him, he was attacked and robbed of the money at gunpoint immediately he left the banking hall.
Giving his evidence in chief, Mr Darko identified Tagoe as the one who had pushed him, making him fall in the process, while the others took the money away from him.
He, however, could not identify the other accused persons, with the explanation that he could not tell whether or not they were part of the robbery.
During cross-examination, Tagoe suggested to the witness that the evidence led by him was not true but the witness disagreed with him.
The Accra Circuit Court, in September 2008, sentenced Ataa Ayi and three others to a total of 80 years’ imprisonment with hard labour for robbery.
Ataa Ayi and the three, namely, Sarfo Sarpong, Michael Tagoe and Nana Osei, aka Razak, were found guilty of raiding the Christ Apostolic Church (CAC) at gunpoint on May 19, 2004.
They were each sentenced to five years’ imprisonment for conspiracy and 20 years’ imprisonment for robbery. Their sentences are to run concurrently.
Ataa Ayi, who is already serving a 70-year sentence imposed on him in 2006, is currently facing trial in different courts on a string of cases involving him and other accomplices.