A 38-year old driver, Stephen Adu-Poku has been sentenced to seven (7) years imprisonment in hard labour by a Takoradi circuit court for stealing a Nissan Urvan bus which belonged to another driver who lives at Ntankoful near Sekondi.

The accused person pleaded guilty to the charge and after the trial, the court, presided over by Mrs Rita Doko, sentenced him.

Prosecuting, Chief Inspector Fuseini Yakubu told the court that the complainant in the case was a driver while the accused was also a driver and a farmer who lived at Asamankese, in the Eastern Region.

He said on October 31, 2015 at about 2pm, the complainant closed from work and parked his Nissan Urvan bus with registration number WR 1392 V at Ntankoful with all the doors locked and went home with the ignition key.

The prosecutor added that the following day, November 1, 2015 at about 5.30am, the complainant woke up and detected that the Nissan Urvan bus had been stolen and efforts made to find yielded no fruit.

The complainant therefore reported the case to the police and informed some friends as well.

On November 7, 2015, a witness in the case who was driving from Accra to Kade spotted the stolen vehicle at Asamankese being driven by a young man.

The witness quickly informed the complainant and the two met in Accra and later proceeded to Asamankese.

On November 8, 2015, both the complainant and the witness located the vehicle and informed the police.

The young man driving the stolen vehicle was arrested together with the vehicle and sent to the Asamankese police station.

The driver told the police that the accused, Stephen Adu-Poku gave him the vehicle to work with and render sales to him (accused).

The accused was subsequently arrested and he claimed ownership of the vehicle and stated initially that he bought it in Accra.

However, according to the prosecutor, the accused later admitted stealing the vehicle and was jailed by the court.