A student who was sentenced to 25 years in prison in 2015 for robbing his victim of wedding rings, an HP laptop, a driving license, and GH¢53 has had his sentence reduced by 10 years on appeal.

Simon Sowah, alias Mason, had pleaded guilty simpliciter (admitted the offence) at his first appearance at the Circuit Court on October 7, 2015, and was convicted on his own plea.

The Circuit Court then handed him a 25-year custodial sentence with hard labour on October 7, 2015, when he appeared together with other accused persons.

Dissatisfied with the sentence, the convict, who had already served nine years of his sentence, appealed against his sentence in July this year.

He argued that the 25-year sentence handed to him by the Circuit Court was harsh and excessive.

On Friday, November 29, 2024, the High Court in Accra, presided over by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons, ruled in his favour and reduced his sentence.

The Court said, having considered the facts, the charges, and the sentence as well as the plea of guilty simpliciter, "I will have the sentence of 25 years reduced to the barest 15 years as the minimum prescribed by law with the use of an offensive weapon."

Justice Simmons said the trial Court (Circuit Court) did not consider any of the mitigating factors, such as being a first-time offender and having pleaded guilty simpliciter.

Consequently, the 25-year jail term was set aside.

The Court said the appellant is to serve 15 years, which takes effect from the day of the sentence on October 7, 2015.

Brief Facts

The brief facts of the case were that the complainant was a manager of a Total Filling Station at Manfi Akwapim in the Eastern Region but was a resident at Teshie Fertiliser.

On July 12, 2015, at about 1:20 am, while he was fast asleep in his house, he heard an unusual noise, and before he could raise an alarm, two accused persons (a mason and a student) attacked the complainant with a cutlass.

He was also threatened with a locally manufactured pistol to surrender all his money and any valuable goods, or they would kill him.

The complainant, who also gathered some strength to face them, was subjected to severe beatings.

The Prosecution said that during the beatings, Dedzor, who is currently at large, and Evans, who is serving his prison term of 25 years, pushed the complainant into a tight corner and succeeded in robbing him of his wedding rings, one HP laptop computer, his driving license, voter's ID card, and cash in the sum of GH¢53.00, and then ran away.

The matter was reported to the police for investigations, and the accused persons were arrested in September 2015 at Nungua for a similar offence.

They led the police to the complainant's house, where they admitted that they were the same people who robbed him.