Two jailed 10 years each for robbery

Saturday, February 13, 2010 (Page 19)

TWO robbers who claimed to be fishermen were yesterday sentenced to 10 years’ imprisonment each with hard labour after pleading guilty to committing robbery.
Jeremiah Quarshie, 18, and Benjamin Nii Kwei Kotey, 20, admitted robbing the complainants of two cellular phones, personal effects and cash of GH¢149 at knife point.
The presiding judge, Mr C. A. Wilson, took the ages of the convicts into consideration before sentencing them.
The facts of the case were that on February 7, 2010, the complainant and her fiancé went to a beach resort for relaxation and around 4 p.m. the convicts and another now at large emerged from a nearby bush and rushed on them.
In the process, Jeremiah threatened to stab the complainant, while Benjamin violently instructed the complainant to hand over her handbag.
The complainant, out of fear, obliged and handed over her handbag to the convicts, who fled immediately they laid hands on the bag.
However, the complainant raised an alarm and a mob managed to arrest the convicts, after giving them a chase through the bush.
The complainant's items were retrieved from the convicts but the knife used in committing the robbery was not found.
According to the prosecution, the convicts, in their caution statements, claimed that they had found the complainant's bag and its contents on a canoe unattended to and, out of interest, Benjamin took it.