A twenty-year old self styled trader, Nana Baffour Awuah, who literally begged a circuit court trying him for theft not to remand him into police custody for fear of dying of hunger, has finally been convicted. When the accused person first appeared before the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly Circuit Court early this month, he pleaded guilty with explanation to the one count of stealing. However, following his explanation, the court entered a plea of not guilty for him and granted him a GH¢ 10,000.00 bail. This, however, did not go down well with Awuah, who pleaded with the court not to remand him since he would not be able to meet the bail conditions. According to him, he had no one to stand surety for him and remanding him too, would mean condemning him to death by hunger. At its sitting last Thursday, the court presided by William Boampong, found him guilty of the offence and sentenced him to three years in hard labour. The facts of the case as presented to the court by Inspector Kwabena Oduro-Boateng were that on November 1,2011 at Amakom, the accused person together with his accomplice now at large, visited the boutique of the complainant, Hagar Bobi, under the pretext of purchasing some items. He said for about 30 minutes, Awuah and his accomplice stayed in the boutique going through the items without making a purchase. Inspector Oduro-Boateng said they later left and whilst they were about to move their motor bike, one Malik, a witness in the case, spotted slippers and jeans hidden in their shirts and raised the alarm for their arrest. According to the prosecution, his accomplice managed to escape and Baffour Awuah was arrested and sent to the Asokwa Police Station where he was detained. In his caution statement to the police, he admitted the offence. However, in his explanation to the court, he said he traded in similar items and usually travelled to Togo to bring in jeans and slippers. He said it was while merchandising his wares that he met a man at a fitting shop near Amakom who wanted some of the jeans. According to him, since he did not have some readily available, he decided to send him to the said boutique where he was sure he could get them. He said while at the shop, he decided to show some of them to the sales girl and to strike a deal. Awuah noted that it was while he was packing his wares that the two pair of sandals found on him got mixed up with his things and that it was not his intention to steal them. When asked by the court why he did not simply return the sandals when he was caught, he said since they were found in his custody, it was assumed that he took them. However, he said since he did not have the amount being quoted by the sales girl (Gh¢120) for the two pairs, he pleaded with them to be sent to the police station instead, in order to escape the beatings he was receiving.