A 28-year-old unemployed man, Kwame Adra from Akyem Swedru in the Eastern Region has been jailed for 24 months for stealing eight fowls.
According to Adra, among the stolen fowls, two belonged to his landlord, and six were for his father.
But he caught the birds, which belonged to his father on his blindside.
In an interview with crimecheckghana.org, he said when they had packed out of the house, he went back to collect some fowls his dad was rearing.
After catching six of the birds claiming to be for his father, he grabbed the other two, which he said were strange, and added to the others in a sack.
“I caught the two other birds perching on a tree and added to the other six fowls in a big sack,” Adra said.
Unfortunately, the rightful owner of the additional two fowls happened to be the landlord.
Adra said the landlord followed up to their new home and found his fowls.
When he was been confronted, he admitted he stole the animals, an act his father had warned him about on several occasions.
He said the landlord immediately reported him to the police for his arrest and was arraigned before Court without delay.
The Court fined him One Thousand and Thirty-Five Ghana cedis. He said he was handed a two-year jail term after he could not pay the fine.
Crime Check Foundation (CCF) paid a visit to Adra at the James Camp Prison as part of the implementation of its Petty Offenders project.
The Foundation paid his fine for his release asking him to ‘go and sin no more’.
His background:
Kwame Adra said he lost his mum at an early age and had to bear the hatred of a stepmother.
He said he has never had formal education and would not want to go to school because he believes he is not good enough to waste his time listening to a teacher. `
There are many like Kwame Adras but prison should not be a quick option for these Petty Offenders.
Much as we should not condone crime, Kwame Adra could have been desilting the gutters if we had a Non-Custodial Law in place.
The Petty Offenders project
CCF has released hundreds of prison inmates through its fine-paying scheme as it implements the Petty Offenders project.
