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An Accra Circuit Court Judge, Mr. Francis Obiri, has expressed grave concern about the spate of armed robbery in the country and called on stated authorities, especially policy makers, to find a solution to the canker. According to the judge, no week passed without five to 10 young men arraigned before him on the crime of armed robbery. Mr. Obiri expressed this concern before sentencing three persons to a total of 80 years imprisonment with hard labour on two separate cases of armed robbery in Accra. �I am unable to understand what are the causes of all these, there is no week that passes without five or ten suspects being brought here on robbery, what is the problem? To me, I think we as a nation, concentrate much on politics and football and leave these important matters. We have to find a solution to this as a country,� he stated. The judge also attributed the problem to the doors of irresponsible parenthood, adding that there was no way that a child of a responsible father or mother would grow to become an armed robber. He noted that a parent who neglects his parental role commits worse offense than a person who smokes Indian hemp, saying, �We seem to concentrate more on smoking not being good, but what about not taking care of your child, to me that is even more criminal than smoking.� Turning the heat on the culprits, Mr. Obiri said he could not fathom the cause of the problems as to why the youth of today, as young as they are, engage in criminal activities everyday when they knew it was a crime. �I cannot understand why the young men of today engage in all these robberies and what have you; it is because they are neglected by their parents? They want to get rich overnight? Is it the economic problems in the country, unemployment or spiritual attack?� he asked rhetorically. He therefore called for a more thorough search for the causes and as a nation address them to reduce the number of crimes reported daily. The three robbers that were convicted are Shadrack Mensah, unemployed; Jonas Akakpo, Washing Bay attendant, and Francis Kwasi, a driver�s mate. Shadrack pleaded not guilty to the charges of robbery in a separate operation, where he attacked a female student of the University of Ghana Legon and robbed her of her belongings. He went through full trial and the court found him guilty and sentenced him to 30 years� imprisonment in hard labour. Akakpo and Kwasi, on the other hand, robbed one Malope Elisha of GH120, 00 and another of his handbag with an amount of GH65.00. They pleaded guilty to three counts of conspiracy to commit crime and robbery. The two were however, sentenced to 20 years for conspiracy and 25 years for robbery each on their own plea of guilty. The sentences are to run concurrently. Shadrack was once put before the circuit court on similar crime, but was discharged by the same court for lack of evidence. In delivering his judgment, the court, presided over by Mr. Francis Obiri, said armed robbery was becoming rampant in the country and that armed robbers should not be harboured in society. In the case of Shadrack Mensah, the judge held that the convict deserved harsh sentence to serve as deterrent because he (Shadrack) failed to reform his character after he was discharged by the court on a similar incident. Turning on the two, Akakpo and Kwasi, the judge said the spate of armed robbery was becoming a concern in the country and therefore policy makers must find the causes and the solution to it. He said he had taken into account several mitigating factors, such as the convicts being first time offenders, as well as having pleaded guilty to their action. Mr. Obiri added that the court further took note of the fact that the convicts each of whom claimed to have wife and child who might be dependent on them before handing the 25 years� jail sentence each to Akakpo and Kwasi. He therefore warned that the court would not be lenient with persons who engaged in such activities in the county. In the case of Shadrack, the police prosecutor, DSP Patrick Morkeh, said the complainant is a level 400 law student of the University of Ghana. He said on April 28, at about 7:50 pm, while the complainant was on her way to lectures on the Evandy-Pantagon road, Shadrack attacked her and snatched her bag containing an Acer Laptop, two mobile phones, as well as an amount of GH52,000, books, lecture notes and handouts. DSP Morkeh said, in her attempts to resist the attack, Shadrack overpowered the complainant, and slashed her thigh with a knife. He said after succeeding in attacking the complainant, Shadrack then ran into the nearby bush, while the complainant�s shout for help attracted the Legon security men on patrol. The security men, the prosecutor said, then organized a search and arrested Shadrack, together with the items mentioned. He said the convict was sent to the police station where he was charged with the crime. On the case of Akakpo and Kwasi, Police Chief Inspector K. Adu said the complainant, Malope Elisha, is a driver resident at Suhum in the Eastern Region, while the two convicts have no fixed places of abode. He said on June 2 at about 02000 hours the complainant, with Kwasi holding both hands of the complainant at his back and Akakpo and one Kojo, currently at large, forcibly removed the money from his pocket. The prosecution said the complainant quickly hatched a plan to arrest the two convicts and lured them, making them believe that he is also a criminal and needed some criminals to operate with. He said they boarded the complainant car through Dome, Kwashiman, Haatso and Atomic Junction and headed towards Kwame Nkrumah Circle. Police Chief Inspector Adu said on their way they picked a male passenger at 37 Military Hospital, and on reaching Afrikiko Gardens, near TV3, the convicts ordered the complainant who was the driver to stop the car and he obliged. He told the court that Akakpo held the passenger�s neck with his hands from behind while Kojo, now at large, collected his bag and Kwasi blocked the entrance of the car, preventing the passenger from escaping. The prosecution said they pushed the passenger out of the car and ordered the complainant to move the car which he did. The complainant alerted the police at a police check point near Kwame Nkrumah Circle and Akakpo and Kwasi were arrested but Kojo managed to escape. During investigations the two convicts admitted the offences in heir caution statements.