Greedy thief jailed for stealing iron rods

39-year-old drug addict, Kweku Prince, has been jailed twenty-four months for stealing iron rods at Akim Oda in the Eastern Region.

Prince said he became a drug addict when he joined a gang of criminals whiles he was a labourer, carrying passengers loads at the market and lorry stations.

He said he could not complete his education because he was not intelligent and could not cope with his studies.

The seeming remorseful thief indicated that he had to hit the streets to be able to fend for himself. He said he landed a job at a galamsey site but he quit after he met his friends who introduced him to drugs.

Prince said he abused narcotic drugs such as cocaine and weed. With bad counsel from one of his friends and under the influence of drugs, the duo went to a construction site and stole iron rods meant for construction.

Prince, who indicated he was not satisfied, went back to the site alone in an attempt to steal more of the rods but he did not get away with it this time around as he was apprehended and subjected to severe mob attack throughout the night of his failed attempted stealing.

“If not for the intervention of a police officer who met the attack whiles on his way to work, I would have been killed,” he told crimecheckghana.org.

He said he was arrested and arraigned before court and was jailed twenty-four months for stealing in default of a Court fine of One Thousand Two Hundred Ghana cedis.

After serving eight months of his sentence, Crime Check Foundation (CCF) supported by one of its US-based donors, known as Darlincia went to his aid and paid his fine for his release.

Kweku Prince thanked CCF and the donor as he promised to turn a new leaf after his reformational training at the Awutu Camp Prison.