Scrap dealer ‘canned’ 12 years

A scrap dealer who was tried  for  stealing a Benz truck valued at GH¢15,000.00, has been handed a 12-year jail term by the Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Mr Francis Obiri.

Though Alhassan Kamal  pleaded not guilty to the charge of stealing,  the court found him guilty after a full trial and was convicted accordingly.

Initially, the presiding judge had sentenced Kamal to five years imprisonment but immediately after his conviction and while being escorted , he assaulted the investigator in the case for making it known in court that he was not a first-time offender.

This influenced the decision of the court to increase the jail term to 12 years, to punish him  for his behaviour.

The facts of the case  as presented to the court  by Inspector  Grace Baah were that Kamal was a scrap dealer and lived at Sukura, a suburb of Accra while the victim, a driver also lived at Mankessim.

On September, 2, 2014, she said the victim’s  Benz Cargo truck was involved in an accident on  the  Mankessim -Yamoransa road  in the Central Region .

Insp. Baah said on  September, 12, 2014, the victim decided to tow the truck to Accra for repairs after it had been examined by a testing officer.

 She said  in  the course of the journey  to Accra, the towing truck  suddenly developed a fault at Amanfro near Weija and could not tow the truck.

Later in the afternoon on the same day, prosecution said the victim returned to the location where  his  truck was parked but could not find it.

The victim lodged a complaint to the Police  who subsequently arrested Kamal and a witness who had towed the victim’s truck to Accra.

Insp. Baah said the witness told the police that Kamal hired him to tow the truck for him.