A disabled man sentenced to 4 years in prison after four attempts by stowaways

Crime & Punishment of Thursday, June 13, 2019

Source: Mercy Nimo

2019-06-13

The Tema District Court sentenced a 27-year-old man with a physical disability to four years in prison for attempting to board four times to go overseas via a ship without the consent of the authorities in charge. of these vessels. .

Presenting details of the case at the court presided over by Ms. Akosua Anokyewaa Agyapong, attorney Sergeant Kleku Mensah told the court that the accused, Mohammed Hakeem, aka Fredrick Abaka, aka Diamond, was a hairdresser and a resident of Tema Newtown.

Sergeant Kleku Mensah stated on May 29 of this year that the accused had been taken to Ghana by plane with an escort from a Namibian immigration officer and that the accused Was boarded in Namibia, was arrested at the port of Namibia and deported.

Sergeant Kleku Mensah added that investigations had revealed that about two weeks ago, the accused went to Togo, where he entered the port of Togo and managed to obtain information about a ship that was about to leave for the UK.

Sergeant Kleku Mensah stated that the accused, armed with information that a ship was about to travel to the UK, went to the anchor of the port from Lomé with the help of a canoe and pioneered a path inside the ship.

Sergeant Kleku Mensah stated that the ship bound for the United Kingdom sailed for 17 days and docked at the Namibian port. He added that the accused thought that the ship had docked in the UK and had come out of hiding and that he was coming out of the ship.

Sergeant Kleku Mensah added that a crew aboard the ship had spotted him; he was arrested and handed over to Namibian immigration, after which he was deported by plane to Accra.

After investigation, Sergeant Kleku Mensah stated that the accused had been charged and brought to court. The accused pleaded guilty to the charges against him.

The judge who sentenced the accused for the same offense on four different occasions in the past, decided this time to sentence him to four years' imprisonment for hard labor and a fine of 6,000. GHC.

The judge added that a delay in the payment of the fine would result in two more years of imprisonment.