Teenager jailed 15 years for robbery

Wednesday, January 27, 2010 (Centre Spread)

A young man who robbed a boutique in Accra in broad daylight and indecently assaulted the salesgirl before making away with items worth GH¢2,441 was yesterday sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment with hard labour.
Naab Randy, 18, pleaded guilty to the charge of robbery but denied fondling and sucking the breasts of the salesgirl at gunpoint on December 30, 2010.
The convict, who is also a labourer, told the court that he used the pistol to scare the salesgirl but he did not intend to shoot her.
According to Randy, he needed money to further his education after he had completed junior high school.
Randy robbed the boutique, indecently assaulted the salesgirl, tied her legs and sealed her mouth with Sellotape and walked out of the boutique with his booty.
He was, however, apprehended by the public while walking leisurely by the roadside with his booty after the salesgirl had managed to crawl out of the boutique, raised an alarm and informed passers-by of her ordeal after she had been set free.
The passers-by decided to spread out and track down Randy, who was later spotted some metres away with the items he had stolen from the boutique.
The items, including jeans trousers worth GH¢1,666, T-shirts worth GH¢405, two mobile phones and cash of GH¢100, were retrieved from the convict.
Presenting the facts of the case, a Deputy Superintendent of Police, Mr Kofi Blagodzi, told the court that the convict entered the complainant's boutique around 2.30 p.m. holding a schoolbag and asked her whether she sold men’s T-shirts.
In the process of being attended to, the convict suddenly pulled a pistol, pointed it at the complainant and warned her not to shout or he would shoot her.
He pulled her to a storeroom in the boutique, pushed her down and attempted to have sex with her.
When the complainant pleaded for mercy, the convict stopped, folded her blouse to the top and sucked her breast to his satisfaction.
After the act, Randy asked the complainant where she kept her money. The girl, who was then trembling with fear, pointed to the drawer where the money was kept.
Randy then tied the complainant's legs with Sellotape he found in the shop, sealed her mouth, ransacked the shop, ran off and left the girl to her fate.
The complainant, however, managed to crawl to the main entrance of the boutique where she was spotted by a lady. The girl was subsequently untied by the lady and other passers-by.
After she was set free, the complainant took stock of items, detected the items stolen and quickly mobilised people who trailed the convict to a distance where he was arrested.
A search on him revealed all the stolen items, a pistol and two cartridges.