Accra, July 19, GNA - A twenty-year-old phone repairer was on Tuesday sentence to 30 years in prison with hard labour by an Accra circuit court for stealing a laptop, three mobile phones and an amount of GH¢600.00.

Abdul Salim Ali was charge on two counts of conspiracy to commit crime and robbery. He pleaded guilty and the court sentenced him to 10 and 20 years respectively to run concurrently. Handing down the sentence, the presiding judge, Mr Eric Kyei Bafour, said, 93I am sentencing you to deter young people from committing such acts".

However, when asked by the court if Ali had something to say, he shook and bowed down his head in a sorrowful state. Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kofi Blagodzi, told the court that the complainant is an airline official staying at Awoshie Onyinase, whilst the convict is a phone repairer resides at Oblogo Manchester.

He said sometime in February last year, the complainant was sleeping when he heard gunshots in his compound. Later, he heard a bang on his glass door breaking it.

According to DSP Blagodzi, the convict and his two other accomplices now at large could not use the front door due to the burglar proof but broke the kitchen door and entered the house. He said Ali and his accomplices wielding locally manufactured pistols searched through the complainant room and in the process one of them sustained injury on his hand, and made away with a cash of GH¢600.00 one Toshiba laptop valued at GH¢1,200.00, two Vodafone phones valued GH¢50.00 as well as one Nokia mobile phone which value was not given.

The next day, the complainant's wife spotted all the robbers in the area and she quickly informed the husband who also alerted the Police.

The Police then traced them to their house where they bolted. Upon a search in their room, two locally manufactured pistols together with two cartridges were found.

He said the Police had information that the convict and his accomplices were hiding at Awoshie and the convict was arrested but his accomplices escape.