The Hearts of five robbers, including two young women, got broken Tuesday when a Kumasi Circuit Court slapped them with a total of 200 years with hard labour jail term for attempting to rob their mother. Emmanuel Amo Yartey, who presided over the court, sentenced each of the five robbers to 40 years in jail on two counts, conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted robbery. On each count, the presiding judge sentenced the robbers to 40 years but indicated that the sentence will run concurrently. The five robbers are Martha Mensah, Akosua Durowaa, Osei Kufuor, Abu Samini, and Timothy Gonnyan. As soon as Mr Yartey pronounced his judgment to the packed court, the five convicts, particularly the two women, broke into uncontrollable tears and threw themselves on the ground. They did not weep alone, as their relations and sympathizers, who turned out in large numbers to offer moral support, also wailed uncontrollably. The atmosphere at the premises of the court became a grief-stricken scene when the convicts were finally taken away by a heavy police guard to begin their term in jail. Policemen detailed to escort the convicts to the Kumasi Central Prisons had a hectic time discharging their duties, as the two wailing women in tears threw themselves on the ground. The presiding judge handed the robbers the deterring sentence after they all pleaded guilty to the two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted robbery. The 6th accused, Yaw Nyamekye, who pleaded not guilty to the two charges, was however remanded in prison custody to re-appear on June 29, 2010. The facts of the case as presented by the prosecutor were that Martha Mensah, 37 and Akosua Durowaa, 28, are blood sisters who contracted the other accused persons to rob their own mother at her residence at Jachie in the Bosomtwe District of the Ashanti region. According to the prosecutor, on Tuesday May 25, 2010, the police gathered intelligence that a group of young men were preparing to rob a house at Jachie that night. Following the hint, the prosecutor said the police quickly laid ambush at the said scene from 9:30 pm till 2:30 am when the robbers finally arrived in a taxi. The prosecutor told the court that the taxi cab was carrying five passengers on board, including the driver. He narrated that immediately the taxi arrived, Akosua Durowaa and the 6th accused person, who are residents of the said house, swiftly came out and opened a burglar-proof gate to allow the other convicts to enter. The prosecutor disclosed that due to the alertness of two wild dogs in the targeted house, the robbers could not enter the house to carry out their nefarious activity. The robbers, who later on mustered courage and entered the house to accomplish their mission, were compelled to abandon their assigned task due to the aggressiveness of the wild dogs. The robbers quickly joined Martha Mensah, who was waiting in the taxi, and sped off. The police officers who had laid ambush and were monitoring the unfolding events, gave them a hot chase and arrested them. A cellotape, a nylon rope, two mobile phones and a quantity of dried leaves suspected to be Indian hemp were recovered after a spot search was conducted on them and the taxi. After successfully arresting the robbers, the police entered the said house and arrested Akosua Durowaa and Yaw Nyamekye, who are a couple. According to the prosecutor, after rigorous interrogation, the two women confessed that they contracted the robbers to rob their mother who is a businesswoman. Martha needed money to pay her GH¢500 medical bill and Akosua needed money to pay off a new container she had acquired. The accused persons were quickly arraigned on two counts of conspiracy to commit robbery and attempted robbery after police investigations. When the convicts first appeared in court on Monday, May 31, 2010, their plea was not taken and they were therefore remanded in prison custody until June 15. Credit: Morgan Owusu/Daily Guide/Ghana