{"id":102708,"date":"2025-11-10T17:23:50","date_gmt":"2025-11-10T17:23:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102708"},"modified":"2025-11-10T17:23:50","modified_gmt":"2025-11-10T17:23:50","slug":"chief-justice-nominee-explains-why-he-sentenced-notorious-armed-robber-atta-ayi-to-70-years-in-prison","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/?p=102708","title":{"rendered":"Chief Justice nominee explains why he sentenced notorious armed robber Atta Ayi to 70 years in prison"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class='booster-block booster-read-block'>\n                <div class=\"twp-read-time\">\n                \t<i class=\"booster-icon twp-clock\"><\/i> <span>Read Time:<\/span>1 Minute, 56 Second                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div><div><img loading=\"lazy\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\"src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-884-e1762791961875-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Chief Justice nominee explains why he sentenced notorious armed robber Atta Ayi to 70 years in prison\" decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-884-e1762791961875-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-884-e1762791961875-49x50.png 49w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" title=\"Chief Justice nominee explains why he sentenced notorious armed robber Atta Ayi to 70 years in prison\"><\/p>\n<p>Chief Justice nominee Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has defended the lengthy 70-year prison sentence he handed down to notorious criminal, Ayi Ayeetey (alias Atta Ayi).<\/p>\n<p>Parliament\u2019s Appointments Committee on Monday, November 10, Justice Baffoe-Bonnie recalled a case from his \u201cyouthful days\u201d in which he sentenced the notorious armed robber to 70 years in prison.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe judges and magistrates, they are trained, they have sentencing guidelines,\u201d he said. \u201cBut sometimes they have to go beyond it. In my youthful days, I gave somebody 70 years, Atta Ayi.\u201d <\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><strong>READ ALSO:<\/strong> Lawyers desert Ataa Ayi<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Justice Baffoe-Bonnie emphasised that while sentencing guidelines provide a framework, judges must sometimes exercise discretion to address the broader context of a case, including public safety and the protection of vulnerable parties. <\/p>\n<p>\u201cI gave him 70 years. And what I told myself was that if Atta Ayi was given 30 years and he comes back, my family will be the first he will attack. So by the time he comes back after 70 years, I will be dead and gone,\u201d he said lightheartedly to laughter in the audience. <\/p>\n<p><strong>Background<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Ataa Ayi, who was described by the police as the nation\u2019s most notorious bandit,t had a high price tag placed on his head by the police. His whereabouts before he was captured prompted the largest manhunt in the nation\u2019s crime history, with expensive billboards bearing his portrait mounted in five of the ten regions of the country. Ataa Ayi was arrested in his hideout in the Teshie Tsui Bleo, a suburb of Accra.<\/p>\n<p>His girlfriend, suspected to be an accomplice, was also arrested in the raid.<\/p>\n<p>Before his arrest, the police had been on his heels for months. His deputy, Emmanuel Tetteh, also known as Mpata, was also arrested. It was believed that information provided by Mpata might have helped to track down the elusive Ataa Ayi.<\/p>\n<p>According to police, Ataa Ayi was the brain behind most of the brutal armed robberies in Accra. He and members of his gang were alleged to have, at gunpoint, stolen money, cars, jewellery and other valuables from various people in the national capital. He was also alleged to have shot several people who resisted his attacks. He was convicted of multiple counts of armed robbery offences and jailed in 2005.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n        <div class=\"booster-block booster-reactions-block\">\n            <div class=\"twp-reactions-icons\">\n                \n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-1\" post-id=\"102708\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/happy.svg\" alt=\"Happy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Happy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span 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post-id=\"102708\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/sleepy.svg\" alt=\"Sleepy\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">\n                        Sleepy                    <\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                        \n                                                <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-4\" post-id=\"102708\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/angry.svg\" alt=\"Angry\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Angry<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                        \n                    <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n                <div class=\"twp-reacts-wrap\">\n                    <a react-data=\"be-react-5\" post-id=\"102708\" class=\"be-face-icons un-reacted\" href=\"javascript:void(0)\">\n                        <img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/wp-content\/plugins\/booster-extension\/\/assets\/icon\/surprise.svg\" alt=\"Surprise\">\n                    <\/a>\n                    <div class=\"twp-reaction-title\">Surprise<\/div>\n                    <div class=\"twp-count-percent\">\n                                                    <span style=\"display: none;\" class=\"twp-react-count\">0<\/span>\n                                                                        <span class=\"twp-react-percent\"><span>0<\/span> %<\/span>\n                                            <\/div>\n                <\/div>\n\n            <\/div>\n        <\/div>\n\n    ","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" src=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-884-e1762791961875-150x150.png\" class=\"attachment-thumbnail size-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Chief Justice nominee explains why he sentenced notorious armed robber Atta Ayi to 70 years in prison\" loading=\"lazy\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-884-e1762791961875-150x150.png 150w, https:\/\/www.myjoyonline.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/image-884-e1762791961875-49x50.png 49w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" title=\"Chief Justice nominee explains why he sentenced notorious armed robber Atta Ayi to 70 years in prison\">Supreme Court nominee Justice Paul Baffoe-Bonnie has defended the lengthy 70-year prison sentence he handed down to notorious criminal, Ayi Ayeetey (alias Atta Ayi).<\/div>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":102709,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_2277560469115098_106292521332774":"","twitter_aToxNzczMzI3Njk4OTg4ODUxMjAxOw==_1773327698988851200":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[12263,12264,1951,1883,117,10,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-102708","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-atta-ayi","category-cj-nominee","category-hp-news-1","category-national","category-news","category-politics","category-popular"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102708","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=102708"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/102708\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/102709"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=102708"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=102708"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sotnews.agency\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=102708"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}