Labour, 36, jailed over mobile phone theft

The Tarkwa District Court has sentenced Prince Gyasi, 36, to four months in prison. He was convicted of mobile phone theft.

Gyasi pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

Police Inspector Patrick Essien presented the case in court. The presiding judge was Mr. Charles Owusu Nsiah.

The first complainant, Bright Chigozie, is a trader at Ford lorry station. He sells and swaps mobile phones there.

The second complainant, Agnes Nana Ama Blay, is a seamstress from Dompim. Gyasi lives in New Site, both locations are in Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality.

On November 29, 2024, around 1:15 PM, Chigozie displayed his phones on a table. He left them with his younger brother, Chukwu Emeka.

While Emeka was at work, Gyasi approached him about swapping phones. He wanted to trade his blue-black Redmi for Chigozie’s Samsung Galaxy A15 worth GH¢2,000.

After inspecting Gyasi's phone, Emeka said he needed an extra GH¢1,500 for the swap. Gyasi claimed he could not afford that amount.

While Emeka helped another customer, Gyasi stole the Samsung Galaxy A15. He hid it in his hat and fled quickly.

When Emeka finished with the customer, he noticed the phone was missing. He began searching for Gyasi and spotted him near a public urinal.

Emeka arrested Gyasi and took him to the Tarkwa police station along with the Redmi phone and hat used in the theft.

Chigozie reported the theft to police. During their investigation, they found that the Redmi phone had a screen saver of a young boy in school uniform.

Inspector Essien stated that Gyasi claimed he bought the Redmi phone for GH¢300 from someone at Tarkwa Railway Station. He did not know who was in the screen saver photo.

Further investigation revealed that WhatsApp on the Redmi phone was active until November 30, 2024. The profile linked to it belonged to Nana Ama Quansah with MTN number 0544112617.

When contacted, Quansah explained her Redmi phone had been stolen on November 29 at New Site while she rushed to board a vehicle to Bogoso.

She identified her stolen Redmi phone at Tarkwa police station and confirmed that her son appeared in the screen saver photo.

Gyasi was charged and brought before the court following these findings.