Technician jailed for stealing electric cables
Technician jailed 5 years for stealing electric cables
After nearly three years of trial, a 34-year-old technician, John Edem Aggorsu, has been sentenced to five years in prison with hard labour for stealing electric cables and copper valued at GH¢182,387.93.Technician jailed for stealing electric cables
The convict stole the items from the Achimota Substation of the Ghana Grid Company Limited (Gridco).
The sentence was handed down at the Accra Circuit Court Two last Wednesday presided over by His Honour Isaac Addo.
Aggorsu, who worked with the Sieyuan Company Limited and was engaged by Gridco to do cable work, was found guilty of stealing after pleading not guilty when the case was first presented on March 21, 2022.
His accomplice, 25-year-old security officer Daniel Agyei, who was stationed at the same substation, had earlier pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.
He was charged with aiding Aggorsu by turning off the Closed-Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to enable the theft. Agyei has since served his sentence and has been released.
Background of the case
According to the prosecutor, Chief Inspector Jonas Lawer Matey, the complainant, Cyril Mawuli King, an engineer at Gridco and a security supervisor of Gridco, Kwadwo Opoku discovered the theft of underground cables and copper materials at the Achimota Substation on January 14, 2022. They then reported the matter to the Kotobabi Police Station in Accra.
He said investigations led to the arrest of the ex-convict, Agyei and in his caution statement, confessed to receiving mobile money transfers and cash sums from the convict, Aggorsu, to disable the CCTV cameras at the substation.
The prosecutor added that Agyei disclosed receiving amounts of GH¢100, GH¢200 and GH¢1,320 on different occasions.
C/Insp Matey noted that police investigations further revealed that Aggorsu carried out the thefts with the help of his worker named Godfred, whose whereabouts remain unknown as Aggorsu failed to direct police. Efforts are still being made to arrest him.
