The dream of three young car thieves of becoming rich overnight through the sale of a stolen car was dashed when their deal, although expertly executed at Takoradi, was uncovered at far-away Sefwi-Bekwai, ending in their arrest. They are Raymond Osei, 30, trader, Daniel K. Yeboah, 35, and Issa Mohamed, 31. They have all pleaded not guilty to the charges of conspiracy to steal, stealing, forgery and possessing dangerous implements. The accused have been remanded in custody by a Takoradi Circuit Court to re-appear on May 8. First accused, Osei, who faced two charges of possessing fire-arms without authority and threatening to kill was jailed for 10 years in hard labour after pleading guilty to the charges. Prosecuting, Police Chief Inspector Kuma Mensah told the court that on March 19 this year, Osei, Yeboah' and Mohammed met at Takoradi and conspired to steal a KIA taxi-cab with registration number WR 1858 Z parked in the owner's house at Takoradi. He said the culprits drove the car to Sefwi-Bekwai, changed the registration number from WR 18582 to WR 4709 Z and sold it for GH¢4,500. Seven different keys' capable of starting the engines of all types of cars were found on Osei. He said Osei, together with the. stolen car were brought down to Takoradi Central Police Station where, during interrogation, Osei mentioned Daniel K. Yeboah as the one who sold the car to him for GH¢4,500. When Yeboah was also arrested, he mentioned Issa Mohamed as his accomplice. A search on Yeboah revealed a bunch of keys capable of opening different makes of vehicles and also some dangerous implements. Mohammed was consequently arrested and together they were charged with the offences. . . Before passing sentence on Osei, the presiding judge, Mr Kwesi Boakye, expressed concern about the increasing rate of armed robbery cases in the country. He noted that most of the arms being used by the said robbers had no licences. He took a serious view of Osei's threats and possession of fire-arms without authority and said Osei was given a heavier sentence to serve as deterrent to future offenders, particularly the youth who were fond of using guns to cause panic and unrest among the people.