Crime & Punishment of Sunday, 13 December 2015

Source: GNA

Galamsey operator remanded over robbery

A Tarkwa Circuit Court has remanded a 20-year-old galamsey operator, Emmanuel Asamoah, into prison custody for allegedly robbing one Agye Owusu, of his gold concentrate worth GHC30,000.00.

The accused person, pleaded not guilty to the charge of conspiracy to commit crime and robbery.

He will re-appear before the court on January 26 next year.

The Prosecutor, Detective Chief Inspector Oscar Amponsah said, the complainant is a driver of a small-scale mining company at Nyamenehene village and lives at Agona Amenfi.

Chief Inspector Amponsah said on November 12, around 1830 hours, the complainant was driving a Nissan pick-up while he was returning from the mining site, and detected that the road linking their house has been blocked with pieces of wood by unknown persons.

According to the complainant, when he got to a section of the road where the woods were placed, he stopped and all of a sudden two of the accused persons, elder Damoah, 22, and Issaka, 24, who have gone into hiding were holding single barrel guns, rushed to the vehicle and used the butt of the gun to hit the side glass which got broken.

They hurriedly picked the black concentrate of gold worth GH¢30,000.00 which was in the vehicle and they left.

Chief Inspector Amponsah said about two weeks later, Asamoah was involved in another crime and he was arrested to the police station, and it was there that the complainant identified him as one of the persons who robbed them.

The accused person admitted committing the crime with Damoah and Issaka on November 12.