When the Odumase Krobo Circuit Court, presided over by Mr. Asmah Akwasi Asiedu, asked an accused person in the dock whether he was guilty or innocent of the charge preferred against him, the 22-year-old barber, Debrah Akwetteh, boldly replied not guilty but upon further questioning, he quickly changed his plea to guilty with explanation. When given the chance to explain his new position to the court he said, "My Lord, I really had the GH¢480 from the complainant but he gave me the money in exchange for anal sex which he demanded from me. I however denied him and went away with the money. "My Lord, in fact, he struggled with me in the room when he was actually on heat to have the anal sex as he persistently lured me with the money. But I realized that such an act was a taboo so I vehemently refused but as for the money I went away with it but not that I stole the money from his room. "Sir, my Lord, the complainant is here now, kindly find out from him whether he did not invite me from Accra to have anal sex with me? "My Lord he wants to cover up his abominable plan". The Presiding Judge after listening carefully to Akwetteh's explanation, remarked "your explanation might be true but it is too late - because you did not act according to the law". Mr Asiedu further explained that if what Akwetteh said was true and once he knew that having unnatural sex was an abomination before God and a taboo in the Krobo custom, the best he could have done in such a circumstance was to have used the money as an evidence and made a complaint about the matter to the police. The judge then posed the question "how will this court believe such a story you have narrated?” The judge consequently rejected the explanation and sentenced him to 36 months with hard labour for appropriating GH¢180 out of the GH¢480. He said he took into consideration the fact that GH¢300 out of the money was retrieved from the accused and ordered the police to give it to the complainant. The fact of the case as presented by Detective Chief Inspector Isaac Teye Kwame was that the complainant, Edward Kwesi, is a trader at Salosi, a suburb of Somanya whilst the accused person is a barber in Accra. He said on April 4, 2010 at about 7.30p.m, Akwetteh visited Kwesi and met him taking his supper. The complainant, as custom and courtesy demanded, invited Akwetteh to join him but he declined the offer and told the complainant he rather wanted water to drink. The complainant then asked Akwetteh to go to the room for the water. According to the prosecutor, Akwetteh entered the room and came out with banana from the fridge and sat with the complainant and ate the banana after which he left. The complainant later entered the room after Akwetteh had left and detected that his money amounting to GH¢480 had been stolen from the drawer. The complainant, therefore, chased Akwetteh to Sra Memorial Bar, a popular drinking spot in Somanya. But the accused denied any knowledge of it, when he was confronted. The following day, the complainant reported to the police and he was arrested. When he was searched at the charge office, an amount ofGH¢300 was found on him which he admitted was part of the missing money. Source: The Mirror