Begoro, June 24, GNA - A 24-year-old chainsaw operator, Suraaka Seidu, who allegedly assaulted and tore the uniform of a policeman while resisting arrest over an alleged stealing case has been sentenced to 18 months in hard labour by the Begoro District Court.

He pleaded guilty to the charge of assault and stealing.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector William Kwasi Nkrumah told the court that the accused was alleged to have been stealing timber boards belonging to one carpenter, Mr Foster Quaye, at Begoro. On June 15, Mr Quaye confronted two men, Mohammed Kasini and Stephen Coffie, who were conveying four timber boards with his identification mark on them.

The men mentioned the accused as the owner of the boards. Quaye went into hiding and when Constable Gengo Ocran was detailed to arrest him, he bit his breast and shoulder and tore his uniform.