Crime & Punishment of Tuesday, 26 July 2005

Source: GNA

Court sends teacher to jail for stealing

Kumasi, July 26, GNA - A teacher of a private preparatory school who, together with an accomplice broke into the office of the school and stole a computer, its accessories and a loud speaker, all valued at 19.7 million cedis, was last Thursday sentenced to two years imprisonment by a Kumasi circuit court for stealing.

Lawrence Kwame Frimpong, 26, the teacher, pleaded guilty to four counts of conspiracy to commit a crime, unlawful entry, causing damage and stealing.

His accomplice, one Coleman alias Rasta, is on the run and the court has issued a bench warrant for his arrest.

The third person, Emmanuel Kwame Kwarteng, a brother of the accused and a student of Kumasi Polytechnic, who received the items has also been charged with dishonestly receiving and will re-appear in court on July 26.

Police Chief Inspector Joseph Odjidja told the court, presided over by Mr. Essel Mensah that at about 1900 hours on June 23, this year, Frimpong and his accomplice broke into the office of the Macmillan Seventh-Day Adventist Preparatory and Junior Secondary School at Old Tafo in the Kumasi metropolis where the accused was a teacher. He said they stole a computer worth 15 million cedis, two printers valued at three million cedis, a scanner valued at 1.5 million cedis and a loud speaker estimated at 200,000 cedis.

Chief Inspector Odjidja said after stealing the items, Frimpong handed the items over to Kwarteng to find a technician to take a look at them and determine whether they were in good condition.

The prosecution said after they were assured that the items were in good order, the three persons proceeded to sell them but were arrested by the police upon a tip-off but Rasta managed to run away.