A 38-year-old man from Ezinlibo near Bonyere has been fined 40 penalty units for stealing 120 dry coconuts belonging to Bonyere community.

Kwame Ahoah, an ex-convict, who pleaded guilty to the charge, would in default serve 12 months imprisonment in hard labour.

The court presided over by Mr Abdul Majid Illiasu ordered the convict to compensate the complainant with Ghc120.

The court further ordered that the retrieved coconuts should be given to the complainant.

Passing the sentence, the magistrate said the court has been lenient to the convict following appeals for clemency by the complainant.

Police Sergeant Isaac Ebo Otoo, prosecuting said the complainant and a witness in the case are coconut farmers and opinion leaders of Bonyere.

He said the plantations have been experiencing rampant thefts.

He said at 1300 hours on May 25, while the complainant and the witness were visiting the plantations they met the convict with head load of peeled coconuts in a sack.

He said when he was questioned how he got the coconuts the convict replied that he was facing financial hardship and was therefore compelled to go for the nuts.

The prosecutor said he was apprehended and sent to Bonyere Police Station where he admitted the offence and pleaded to the police not to send him to court for he has already served three prison terms.