Alleged accomplice of Ataa Ayi acquitted and discharged after 23 years in prison

Yaw Asante Agyekum, an alleged accomplice of Ataa Ayi, has been acquitted and discharged after 23 years in prison.

Charged with conspiracy to commit armed robbery, Agyekum, who was a mechanic, was wrongly sentenced to 35 years’ imprisonment in 2002 when he was 24 years old.

Yaw Asante, now 47, says he was a repairer of the notorious armed robber, Ataa Ayi, where he used to service faults his motor developed. He used to work on Ata Ayi’s motorbike, not knowing he was an armed robber being chased by the Ghana Police Service.

In his argument, his lawyer argued that the only link prosecutors could draw between Ataa Ayi and Agyekum was to find the phone numbers of the notorious criminal on the mobile phone of the mechanic. The Appeals Court freed Agyekum after finding him innocent.

Yaw Agyekum’s wife had delivered a new baby girl who was less than a year old before he was wrongly jailed. The daughter expressed her delight in the court’s decision to free Yaw Asante Agyekum.