STUDENT JAILED 25 YEARS FOR ROBBERY (PAGE 20)

A Third-year student of the Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI), Kwadwo Louis, alias Captain Atamuda, has been sentenced to 25 years imprisonment for robbery.
Louis, 19, who robbed a student of the University for Development Studies of three laptops at gunpoint, pleaded guilty to the charge and the Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Emmanuel Amoh Yartey, sentenced him accordingly.
An accomplice, Richard Ayana, is on the run and the police have mounted a search for him.
According to the facts of the case, the complainant, one Jesse Kazaboe, who was on holidays from school, visited his nephew, Dennis Akari, at Ahinsan, a Kumasi suburb.
Before coming to Kumasi, Jesse’s friends gave him various sums of money to purchase laptops for them.
On August 21, 2009, Louis, who was a friend to Dennis, paid him a visit and whilst in his room, he saw the laptops and therefore hatched a plan to steal them.
The prosecution said the convict left for his house but came back to ask Jesse to help him to re-charge his phone, since the electricity supply to his house had gone off.
Louis, who left after handing over the phone to Jesse, returned to the house after his phone had been fully charged.
In his determination to steal the laptops, Louis, on August 24, called Dennis on phone to enquire about his whereabouts.
On realising that Dennis was not in his house, Louis and his accomplice, Ayana, proceeded to the friend’s house and on reaching his room they met Jesse.
They managed to rob him of the computers at gunpoint but when they were leaving the room, Jesse mustered courage and held Louis to the ground.
Sensing danger, Ayana bolted with the laptops but while escaping, he ran into Dennis, who questioned him about where he was taking the computers.
According to the prosecution, Ayana dropped the computers and took to his heels, causing damage to them.
Dennis became suspicious and rushed to the house, where he found Louis struggling with Jesse in the room.
The two consequently teamed up to overpower Louis and handed him over to the police together with the locally manufactured pistol used in the robbery.
In his caution statement, Louis confessed to the act and was later charged with the offence.