An Accra Circuit Court has sentenced a 32-year-old driver, Emmanuel Akpatsa, to 15 years in prison for unlawfully entering his former employer’s residence and attempting to rob him.

Akpatsa was convicted after the court found him guilty of unlawful entry and attempting to commit robbery following a trial in which the prosecution called four witnesses.

The court heard that Akpatsa, armed with a kitchen knife, allegedly scaled the wall of his former employer’s residence at Okpoi Gonno, off the Spintex Road, in the early hours of May 24, 2025.

According to the prosecution, led by Inspector Priscilla Avorgah, Akpatsa entered the residence of Callistus Mahama at about 1am while Mahama’s houseboy and driver, 29-year-old Gabriel Djanfosu, was there with three others.

The prosecution said Akpatsa pulled out the knife and demanded that Djanfosu hand over a Sonlink motorbike with registration number M-25-GR 5034.

Djanfosu, sensing danger, allegedly pretended to step outside to urinate before retrieving a cutlass and raising an alarm.

His call for help attracted a security guard and a police officer, who assisted in overpowering and arresting Akpatsa.

He was subsequently handed over to the police at Manet, where the kitchen knife was retrieved and he was detained for further investigations.

The court was told that Akpatsa had previously worked as a driver for Mahama but left the job on January 22, 2025, after receiving GH¢10,000 in compensation.

The prosecution said Akpatsa returned to Accra from his hometown, Kpando, on May 23, 2025, arriving at about 9pm.

He later went to a drinking spot at Martey-Tsuru, where he allegedly obtained a kitchen knife from a man identified as Richard Ampiah.

According to the prosecution, Akpatsa then proceeded to Oasis Estate, where his former employer’s residence was located.

To avoid detection by a CCTV camera, he allegedly entered an abandoned house next to the residence before scaling the wall into Mahama’s property.

After gaining access to the residence, Akpatsa allegedly armed himself with the knife and confronted Djanfosu, demanding the motorbike.

The prosecution further told the court that Akpatsa admitted the offence in a statement to the police during investigations.

He was subsequently charged with unlawful entry and attempting to commit robbery.

Akpatsa had pleaded not guilty to both charges but was convicted at the end of the trial and sentenced to 15 years’ imprisonment.