An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced an electrical technician to five years’ imprisonment for stealing Gridco Company Limited cables and copper worth GH¢182,387.93.

The court found John Edem Aggorsu, 34, guilty of theft at the Achimota Substation in Accra.

His accomplice, Daniel Agyei, a security officer who disabled the CCTV system to facilitate the theft, had earlier been convicted and sentenced to 18 months’ imprisonment.

Agyei pleaded guilty to abetment of crime and was convicted on his own plea by presiding judge Mr. Isaac Addo.

Aggorsu denied the charge and underwent a full trial. The prosecution called four witnesses, and the trial judge dismissed his submission of no case, directing him to open his defence.

Aggorsu testified in his own defence but did not call any witnesses.

At the end of the trial, the court ruled that the prosecution had proven its case beyond a reasonable doubt.

Chief Inspector Jonas Lawer, leading the prosecution, stated that the complainant, Cyril Mawuli King, is an engineer at Gridco’s Achimota Substation.

He said Agyei, the first accused, was a security officer at the substation, while Aggorsu, an electrical technician employed by an unnamed company, had been contracted by Gridco for cable works.

On January 14, 2022, the complainant and security supervisor, Kwadwo Opoku, detected the theft of ground cables and copper and reported the matter to Kotobabi Police.

Investigations led to Agyei’s arrest. In his caution statement, he admitted receiving mobile money transfers and cash payments from Aggorsu on multiple occasions, including amounts of GH¢1,320, GH¢200, and GH¢100.

The investigation established that Aggorsu paid Agyei to disable the CCTV system to avoid being captured while stealing cables and copper.

Further inquiries revealed that Aggorsu had an accomplice, identified only as Godfred, but he failed to disclose his whereabouts to police.