20-year-old miner jailed with hard labour for stealing friend’s iPhone 11

A 20-year-old small-scale miner, Emmanuel Eshun, has been sentenced to three months’ imprisonment with hard labour by the Tarkwa District Court One for stealing his friend’s iPhone 11 valued at GH¢3,500.

Eshun pleaded guilty to the charge of stealing when he appeared before the court, presided over by Mr Charles Owusu Nsiah.

Presenting the facts, the Prosecutor, Police Sergeant Adwoa Yeboah, said the complainant, Mr Kwame Nimorlaar, is also a small-scale miner and a friend of the convict.

She told the court that the two reside at Aboso Post Office and Fanti Mines respectively, within the Prestea Huni-Valley Municipality of the Western Region.

According to the prosecution, on October 1, 2025, at about 6:00 p.m., Eshun visited the complainant at his residence and requested his iPhone 11 to take photographs in his presence.

After a few minutes, Eshun told Mr Nimorlaar that he was going to check something by the roadside and promised to return shortly, but failed to do so.

Sergeant Yeboah said that on October 20, 2025, at about 11:00 p.m., Mr Nimorlaar spotted Eshun at Mandeyline, a suburb of Aboso, and with the assistance of his brothers, dragged him to the Aboso Police Station to lodge a formal complaint.

During interrogation, Eshun told the police that he had received a phone call from a friend, one Baldest, who asked him to meet him at the “I Am That I Am” Hotel at Aboso Mandeyline.

According to the Prosecutor, Eshun claimed he informed Mr Nimorlaar before leaving and assured him that he would return shortly with the phone.

The Prosecution said Eshun further told the police that on his way, he encountered another friend, known as “2Pac,” to whom he owed GH¢1,600, and that the friend angrily seized the iPhone from him.

However, Sergeant Yeboah said Eshun failed to assist the police to arrest the said friend and, after investigations, he was charged with stealing and put before the court.