By: Beatrice Oppon
The High Court in Accra has granted bail to Pastor Hammond Love popularly known as Pastor Love pending his appeal against his 48 months jail term. The bail bond was set at two million cedis with three sureties, to be justified with landed property. The Court also ordered that he deposits his passport which should not expire before today with the Registrar and report to the police every Tuesday.
Pastor Love was sentenced to prison in hard labour last October 1, 2024 after a Circuit Court in Accra found him guilty of stealing a 4X4 vehicle belonging to his friend. The said vehicle was shipped into the country by his friend in the US.
The friend tasked Pastor Love to clear it with his own money and sell it for 50 thousand dollars after which he can deduct the amount he paid as duty.
Later the complainant told Pastor Love to hold on with the sale of the vehicle as he will travel into the country and refund his money.
In April 2017, the complainant arrived in the country and contacted Pastor Love for his vehicle but he could not produce it upon several demands.
The complainant lodged a complaint with the police and Pastor Love was arrested in May 2017.
In his grounds for appeal, lawyer for Pastor Love, Francis Kwame Yeboah argues that the Circuit Court judge contradicted himself when he acknowledged in his judgment that Pastor Love used his own funds to clear the said vehicle from the port and was instructed by the complainant to sell and retrieve the amount paid as duty and later conclude that Pastor Love stole the vehicle.
The Lawyer is therefore urging the High Court to overturn the conviction of Pastor Love on that reason and on other stated grounds. Assistant State Attorney Rita Ofosua Appiah disagreed with the applicant lawyer on his claim of a prima facie error on the judgment. She contends that the judgement was sound in law.
She noted that a careful reading of the judgment indicates that the applicant confessed to selling the vehicle without the consent of the owner.
