A tiler was sentenced to ten years in prison with hard labour by the Asante Bekwai circuit court in the Ashanti region for robbing a trader of 40 pieces of ice cream.
Simon Blay, 28, pleaded guilty and was sentenced based on his plea.
Sarah Ofori and Blay were neighbours in Feyiase, according to Detective Chief Inspector Stephen Ofori, who testified before the court presided over by Mr Mark Tair-ima Diboro.
He claimed that on September 15, 2021, around 1400 hours, Sarah was going about her normal business when Blay called her under the guise of purchasing some ice cream.
According to the prosecution, the convict took advantage of the quiet nature of the area and robbed the ice-cream seller of her items, a purse containing a cell phone, GH25.00, all valued at GH112.00, with a pair of scissors.
According to Chief Inspector Ofori, Blay fled the scene of the robbery, while Sarah filed a formal complaint with the Feyiase police.
The ice cream container was discovered about 100 meters away from the crime scene when the scene was visited.
According to the prosecution, the next day, after hearing about the incident, residents arrested Blay and turned him over to police.
A search of him turned up the stolen cell phone, in which he had fixed his sim card instead of Sarah’s.
After admitting the crime, he led the police to his house, where they discovered Sarah’s SIM card during a search.
According to Inspector Blay, police investigations revealed that the convict was on trial alongside others for alleged unlawful entry and theft of a 17-inch television set.
He claimed Blay committed the robbery shortly after being granted bail in the stealing case by the court.
