Chronic phone thief jailed 25 months released

A 21-year-old mobile phone thief serving at the Awutu Camp Prison has been set free after eleven months.

A Tema District Court convicted Joseph Abedu following several phone stealing escapades.

The convict and his accomplices took advantage of the negligence of shop owners and customers at Tema and made away with their handsets.

“We normally target shop owners and their customers. I have stolen more than a hundred phones,” he told crimecheckghana.org.

Though he plied his trade at Tema as a fisherman, he lived at Agbogbloshie where he claimed bad friends influenced him.

Until his arrest, the young man had been stealing for close to two years. According to him, he indulged in criminal activities because he did not have a stable job.

He said he nearly died in a motorcycle crash during the operation that led to his arrest.

“We were two a motorbike when we successfully stole a shop owner’s phone but we could not get away with it. When we were picking the phone an onlooker made us out.

‘He shouted for help and neighboring shop owners and other eyewitnesses gave us a hot chase. Another motorbike crossed us in front and we collided,” he narrated.

Abedu was handed over to the police and was arraigned before court.

He was fined One Thousand Two Hundred Ghana cedis but he defaulted in payment leading to his imprisonment.

Abedu’s accomplice, however, got his freedom because he got support from their relatives to pay their fine.

With the support of a US-based donor, Richard Tawiah, Crime Check Foundation (CCF) went to visit him at the Awutu Camp Prison and paid his fine for his release.

This was done under CCF’s Petty Offenders project.

The Petty Offenders project

Under the project, hundreds of convicts who have committed petty crimes have been released. This has significantly contributed to the decongestion of the prisons.