ACCRA, September 28 -- A 50-year-old farmer who burgled the Supreme Court in Accra was on Tuesday sentenced to six years' imprisonment with hard labour. Kwabena Mensah, together with three accomplices now at large, broke into the offices of the court and stole a calculator and two million cedis cash. The accused, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal, will serve a five-year probation after his release from jail. Two other charges against him, possessing instruments intended for unlawful entry and stealing, were dropped for lack of prosecution.

The tribunal chaired by Moru Ziblim ordered that the jack used in the theft should be confiscated and handed over to the police. He however, ordered that the accused person's bathroom slippers and sunglasses found at the scene of theft should be released to him, "because he will need them in jail".

Prosecuting, Inspector Emmanuel Boison said following frequent thefts at the Supreme Court and its surroundings, security men were detailed to mount surveillance. He said in the early hours of September 22, Mensah and three accomplices entered the premises of the court and used a jack to force open an iron bar fixed to one of the windows of the finance office. They ransacked cabinets and drawers and stole a calculator valued at 100,000 cedis and two million cedis (about 350 dollars).