Kumasi, Jan. 17, GNA - An unemployed teenager caught with a locally manufactured pistol has been sentenced to 10 years imprisonment by a Kumasi Circuit Court.

Ahmed Omar was charged with possessing firearm without authority and pleaded not guilty.

The convict and another person, Issah Yakubu, a scrap dealer, were however freed on the charge of preparation to commit crime.

Police Chief Inspector Isaac Mensah Appenteng told the court presided over by Justice William Boampong that the two were arrested on June 1, last year, by members of the neighbourhood watch committee at the Race Course in Kumasi.

At about 1600 hours on that day, the two were spotted hiding behind a wall opposite the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital, making members of the committee suspicious of them.

The prosecution said as team moved to where the two were to be sure of what they were doing there, Omar and Yakubu, took to their heels.

They were however given a chase and arrested.

The illegal weapon and cartridges were found on Omar and he admitted ownership of the items.