The Asante Akropong Circuit Court in the Atwima Nwabiagya North District has sentenced a 44-year-old driver to five years in prison for stealing a low-bed truck valued at GH¢300,000 in Pankrono, near Kumasi.
Kwame Oppong pleaded guilty and was convicted on his own plea by the court, which was presided over by Mrs. Gloria Mensah Bonsu.
Police Chief Inspector Ruth Gborson, who prosecuted the case, told the court that the complainant, Stephen Kingsley Annor, a businessman and resident of Pankrono, had hired the convict to drive his Man Diesel low-bed truck, with registration number GE 2113-11, in May 2023.
Two months later, the truck developed a fault. The complainant instructed the convict to park the vehicle at a spot in Kumasi Sofoline and remove the head to Suame Magazine for repairs.
The prosecution said the convict convinced the complainant to park the truck at his mother’s house in Adankwame-Nsiakrom for safekeeping, which the complainant agreed to.
However, Chief Inspector Gborson explained that the convict went behind the complainant’s back and sold the truck to a scrap dealer, identified as Abubakar, for GH¢12,000. The convict then went into hiding.
After the complainant failed to trace him, he reported the matter to the Abuakwa police. Oppong was later arrested at his hideout in Offinso-Abofuor, his hometown.
In his caution statement, the convict admitted to the crime and led the police to the buyer’s residence at Afful Nkwanta, though they were unable to locate him.
Following further investigations, Oppong was charged and brought before the court.
