Court jails trader 20 years for attempted robbery

A 27-year-old trader has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment in hard labour by an Accra Circuit Court for attempted robbery.

Nii Aryee Allotey, who also intentionally and unlawfully caused harm to one Alberta Pokuaa denied the charges but was found culpable after trial.

The Court presided over by Adelaide Abui Keddy heard that the complainant Alberta Pokuaa was a trader and resident of Weija whereas Allotey, the convict was also a trader and a resident of Kwame Nkrumah Circle, all in the Greater Accra Region.

The prosecution said on June 21, 2022, the complainant received a call from Allotey who claimed to have retrieved the phone number from a certain platform and proposed to her.

It said he was able to convince the complainant to meet him at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital where he claimed to be a staff and resided.

The Court heard that the convict asked her to accompany him home and on reaching the premises of the School of Hygiene, Allotey suddenly pulled a knife and ordered the complainant to surrender her iPhone 11 pro max.

The prosecution said she resisted and as a result, the convict stabbed the complainant in the chest, and she fell.

It said Allotey further stabbed the right ribs of the complainant twice, yet she did not surrender.

The prosecution said the complainant threw her mobile phone into a nearby bush and started screaming for help, which attracted people within the catchment to the scene who came to her rescue.

It said on seeing the people and sensing danger, Allotey tried to escape from the scene, but luck eluded him, and he was arrested and handed over to the police.

In his cautioned statement, he admitted the offence, the prosecution told the Court. The complainant, the Court heard, was admitted at Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, treated, and discharged on June 27,2022.

After investigations, Allotey was charged with the offences and put before the court.