2 Jailed For Stealing Electrical Cables

shy;Two men who broke into an empty house at Sokode-Etoe, near Ho in the Volta Region, and made away with the fitted electrical cables and sockets in the building, valued at GHcent;31,340, have been jailed three years each by a Ho District Magistrate Court.

Yaovi Alorwonu, 31, a mason; and Samuel Agbeko, 27, a driver, both residents of Ho, will serve three years each.

They pleaded guilty to the counts of conspiracy to steal, stealing and unlawful entry when they were arraigned before the court last Friday, January 19.

Each was sentenced to 12 months imprisonment on each count, with the sentences to run consecutively.

The accused persons, who were not represented by a counsel, pleaded not guilty to causing unlawful damage.
 
Sergeant Kwadwo Otibu-Gyan, who represented the Republic, told the court presided over by Albert Owusu Annor that the complainant (name withheld), who lives in Hohoe, also had an uninhabited house at Sokode-Etoe.

In recent times, the prosecution said, thieves often raided the house to steal the electrical cables and other fittings in the building.

The court heard on January 14, this year, that the accused persons went into the property, under the pretext of looking for scraps, and forced open the door, valued at GHcent;2,000, before taking off the power cables.

Location
The prosecution said on their way out of the location, the two thieves were caught by local townsmen who retrieved the cables they had cut into pieces from them.

Alorwonu and Agbeko were later handed over to the police.

In their caution statements, they both admitted the offences but denied causing damage to the door, saying it was opened before they entered the house.