The Akim Swedru circuit court, presided over by Mr Justice Charles Koomson, has sentenced two members of a cow-stealing syndicate to eight years' imprisonment each.

Mahmoud Fulani, 23, and Ali Magogee, 19, both from Ashaiman, near Accra, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to steal and stealing two pregnant cows belonging to Mr Kwabena Owusu-Nimoh, a prominent farmer of Kade in the Eastern Region.

A third accomplice, Teye Mensah, driver, was, however, acquitted and discharged because, according to Mr Justice Koomson, he was a victim of circumstances. Three other accomplices, however, escaped arrest.

Police Inspector Agyeman Reindorf told the court that on August 27, 2001, the accused hired the services of Teye Mensah, a KIA truck driver, ostensibly to cart beams from Nsawam. At Nsawam, the accused told Mensah that the beams were not ready and therefore asked him to take them to Kade.

Inspector Reindorf said the accused persons then asked Mensah to drive them to a spot where he was asked to wait for them, adding that after a while the driver decided to ease himself. When he returned, his truck had been moved a little farther from where he had parked.

Inspector Reindorf said Mensah then heard some strange noises in the truck and when he asked what was inside it, the accused told him they were two cows. The accused then moved again into the kraal and attempted to steal a third cow that proved too difficult to catch. In the ensuing struggle, the attention of the Fulani herdsman at the kraal was aroused.

The herdsman then confronted the accused, hitting one of them on the head but they sped off in the truck. He, therefore ran to inform Mr Owusu-Nimoh who alerted the police at Asamankese, Akroso and Akim Oda about the incident.

Inspector Reindorf told the court that the accused and their accomplices later arrived at a police barrier manned by him and two other colleagues. The gang, however, escaped into the bush when they sensed danger. The police managed to arrest three members of the gang while the rest escaped. Passing sentence, Mr Justice Koomson said he was being lenient in view of the young ages of the accused.

He expressed concern about the rising crime wave in the country and appealed to business concerns and other stakeholders to help offer employment to the youth.