The Tarkwa Circuit Court has sentenced an 18-year-old small-scale miner, Mohammed Razak, to 10 years in prison with hard labour for stealing mining equipment valued at GH¢11,990.

Razak, who had previously been jailed by the same court for a similar offence, pleaded guilty to the charge of theft.

According to the prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Abraham Ayitey, the complainant, Thomas Tetteh, is also a small-scale miner and a resident of Wassa Japa in the Wassa Amenfi East constituency.

It said Tetteh owns a mining site at Wassa Japa but had paused his operations about a month ago due to a water shortage.

During the pause, he dismantled his mining equipment and left it on-site, intending to transport it to a safer location.

The day after dismantling the equipment, Tetteh returned to his site only to find that his Changfa diesel engine worth GH¢8,000, a pumping machine valued at GH¢1,700, and a crusher worth GH¢2,290 were missing.

Suspecting theft, Tetteh began inquiring about the Wassa Japa community, which eventually led to Razak’s arrest.

Tetteh reported the matter to the Wassa Akropong police station and handed Razak over to the police for further investigation.

During the investigation, Razak admitted to selling the stolen equipment to a scrap dealer in Wassa Adiembra.

However, when the police, with Razak’s assistance, attempted to retrieve the items, they were unable to locate the scrap dealer.