Bekwai Circuit Court has sentenced a driver and his apprentice to 17 years imprisonment in hard labour for robbery.

Twenty-three-year-old Augustine Twumasi, also known as Odenkyem and Kwame Asare , 21 were accused of attacking and robbing a nurse of her mobile phone, handbag at Abuontem near Atonsu.

The convicts, both residents of Jachie earlier pleaded not guilty to the two charges.

They were, however, found guilty to the two counts, the court presided by His Lordship Frederick Nawurah found the two guilty.

Prosecutor, Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Ofori told the court the complainant was visiting her parents at Abuontem New Site when she was attacked at the Pentecost Junction, a spot on the Abidjan Nkwanta-Aputuogya stretch on February 17, 2019 at about 8 p.m.

Asare and Twumasi who were sitting under a wooden structure at the junction. Asare pulled a Jackknife, pair of scissors and cutlass and threatened to stab the complainant.

Chief Inspector Ofori told the court the complainant fell on the ground after Asare hit her back with the cutlass and kicked her.

He forcibly snatched complainant’s handbag containing NHIS and E-Zwich card, an amount of GH320, student ID card, among others. Twumasi, on the other hand, also picked her Infinix Hot 5 Lite Mobile phone and bolted.

However, Asare was arrested by some young men in the neighbourhood who also retrieved the handbag after the complainant raised an alarm.

On April 28, 2919, Twumasi led police to Adum PZ to a phone dealer he sold the phone to for GH200 after his arrest at Jachie. The dealer upon seeing police took to his heels.

They, however, pleaded not guilty to two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and robbery when they were arraigned but they were found guilty by the court.