2 jailed for stealing electrical cables

The Ho District Magistrate Court has sentenced two men to three years imprisonment each for breaking into an empty house and stealing fitted electrical cables and sockets valued at GH¢31,340 at Sokode-Etoe near Ho in the Volta Region.

The convicts, Yaovi Alorwonu, 31, a mason, and Samuel Agbeko, 27, a driver, are both residents of Ho.

Sergeant Kwadwo Otibu-Gyan, who represented the state, told the court presided over by Albert Owusu Annor that the complainant (name withheld), who lives in Hohoe, also had an uninhabited house at Sokode-Etoe.

In recent times, the prosecution said, thieves often raided the house to steal the electrical cables and other fittings in the building.

On January 14 this year, the court heard that the accused persons went into the property under the pretext of looking for scraps and forced open the door, valued at GH¢2,000, before taking off the power cables.

The prosecution said on their way out of the location, the two thieves were caught by local townsmen who retrieved the cables they had cut into pieces from them.

Alorwonu and Agbeko were subsequently handed over to the police.

They pleaded guilty to the counts of conspiracy to steal, stealing, and unlawful entry when they were arraigned before the court last Friday, January 19.

Each was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on each count, with the sentences running consecutively.

The accused persons, who were not represented by a counsel, pleaded not guilty to causing unlawful damage.

In their caution statements, they both admitted the offences but denied causing damage to the door, saying it was opened before they entered the house.