Eric Gyimah, a vendor of mobile phones, was found guilty of stealing a taxi driver of his taxicab and was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor by a Tema Circuit Court.
Following a thorough trial, Gyimah who had entered a not guilty plea to two charges of robbery and dishonestly receiving was given the punishment.
Gyimah had begged the court for clemency prior to his sentencing, but the prosecution rejected the plea, claiming that the guilty man had shown no remorse during the trial.
The prosecution went on to say that the term needed to act as a warning to others who might have similar goals.
Presided over by Agnes Opoku Banie, the court further mandated that Gyimah return GH¢3,000.00 to Daniel Darius Annang, the complainant he defrauded with the assistance of two other individuals who are currently at large.
Prosecuting Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) George Doe informed the court that on May 13, 2023, at approximately 13.30 hours, the complainant, a driver who lives in the Accra suburb of Haatso, was in charge of a yellow Toyota Vitz taxicab with registration number GC 2668-22 and covered in ash.
Gyimah and his accomplices, according to the prosecution, were standing by the side of the road when they signaled to the cab to stop, and he did so. They then told the complainant that they planned to employ him to transport materials from the Accra Mall to a construction site in Dawhenya’s Central University neighborhood.
The prosecution claimed that after consenting to the charge, the defendant sat in the front seat of the taxicab next to the complainant, with his accomplices occupying the rear seat. When they arrived at a remote location close to the Central University campus, Gyimah requested that they stop so that he could get out, and the defendant complied.
The prosecution claimed that as soon as he pulled over and halted the vehicle, the two individuals sitting behind him grabbed his neck with a rope, and the prisoner reached into his pants pocket to take out GH¢3,000.
Gyimah then exited the taxicab, went to the driver’s side, opened the door, and gave the complainant the order to exit the vehicle or face certain death, according to testimony given to the court.
The prosecution claims that after his associates freed the rope around his neck, he exited the taxi and gave Gyimah the ignition key at his direction.
The prosecution claimed that after taking a seat behind the steering wheel of the taxicab, the defendant drove off with the driver’s license, a Ghana Card, and the complainant’s Samsung phone, which was worth GH¢2,000.00.
Gyimah, who was operating the taxicab at the time, was apprehended by the Adidome Police after the victim filed a complaint at the Dawhenya Police Station, according to the prosecution.
Gyimah claimed in his cautionary statement, according to the prosecution, that a man named Michael gave him the taxicab to sell on his behalf.
The prosecution said that after the complainant presented all required documentation to identify the taxicab at the police station, the car’s color was changed from taxi to private and its license plate from GC2668-22 to GC8017-22.
He claimed that the complainant’s document’s chassis number matched the one of the prisoner’s vehicle that was pulled over.
According to ASP Doe, the complainant also gave the accused’s attackers’ leader’s identity to the authorities.
