Wa (Upper West) 17 May 2002- A 38-year old convict, Yussif Mohammed, who told the Wa Circuit Court that the devil had deceived him to escape from prison, was sentenced to a further two years' imprisonment on Wednesday notwithstanding his plea for forgiveness. Mohammed, a farmer, was already serving an 18-month jail term for failing to pay a fine of 200,000 cedis imposed by the same court for stealing.

He pleaded guilt to escaping from lawful custody. Police Inspector Stephen Dobara prosecuting, told the court, presided over by Mr Gibson Adzagli that on 13 April this year, Mohammed took advantage of a morning devotion service at the Wa central prison and jumped over the fence wall of the prison.

He said the accused then hid at the Sports Stadium for a while, before leaving for Nyoli village on the Wa- Kumasi road. At Nyoli, Mohamed decided to contact his elder brother at Bole in the Northern Region to solicit for money to pay the court fine, the prosecutor said.

On 9 May he boarded a Bole-bound vehicle apparently to go and meet his brother, but a prison officer arrested him at the Kulmasa customs barrier.