<<Print>>

Two persons who were sentenced to various terms of imprisonment for assault and causing harm by the Circuit Court, have been set free by the Accra High Court. The ex-convicts, Abdul Rashid Seidu and Abdul Karim Asumi, regained their freedom after their appeal had been upheld by the High Court, presided over by Mr Justice M. H. Logoh. They were arraigned before the Circuit Court in Accra, charged with a count each of assault and causing harm. They pleaded not guilty to the charges. After a full trial, however, the court found them guilty and sentenced each of them to a term of 20 and 30 months� imprisonment respectively on each count to run concurrently. Aggrieved by their conviction, the two lodged the appeal on the grounds that the decision of the trial court in convicting them was against the weight of evidence adduced before the court. They also felt that the trial court erred in law in its decision in failing to take into account the deficit credibility of the complainant in the case. According to them, the trial court occasioned a grave miscarriage of justice by failing to take into account the background and circumstances of the case, especially the ongoing feud between the complainant and his wife. The facts upon which the appellants were arraigned before the trial court were that the complainant on August 21, 2009, had a call from an anonymous person from Kumasi to the effect that the accused persons had been contracted from Kumasi to come and kill him in his shop at the Trade Fair Centre in Accra. The caller explained that another accused person in the case would lead Abdul Rashid Seidu and Abdul Karim Asumi to Accra and identify the complainant to them but would not participate in the killing. The complainant lodged a complaint at the Police Headquarters on the same day and three officers from the Panthers Unit were detailed to accompany him and his driver to the shop. On the way, the complainant was made to alight and board a taxi. The taxi was followed by the complainant�s car and the police officers. The car parked at a distance from the shop and as the complainant entered, he met his wife, who pleaded with him to leave the shop as there was a subsisting court order restraining him from coming to wherever she was, and for that matter the shop, which was under her management. The complainant refused, picked up a quarrel with her and ended up beating her in the presence of the accused persons, as well as the salesmen in the shop. Seidu and Asumi attempted to rescue the woman and this stirred the anger of the complainant, who asked them what their interest was. The wife managed to escape to the Labadi Police Station and lodged a complaint. The complainant turned his anger on the accused persons and attacked them in front of the shop. Seidu slapped the complainant after he had injured Abdul Karim Asumi on the left eyebrow. In the process, the complainant also sustained a cut on the head and his shirt got torn. The three policemen rushed to the scene with the driver and met the parties struggling and arrested Seidu and Asumi, as well as a salesman. The said salesman was pointed out by the complainant as having assisted Seidu and Asumi. Seidu and Asumi were searched on the spot by the arresting officers, but nothing incriminating was found on them. In upholding the appeal, Justice Logoh noted that while the three policemen who testified as PW2, PW3 and PW4 all saw the same incident and from the same position, for reasons known only to them, had told somewhat conflicting stories. The court also noted that the complainant�s claim that he had information that the appellants had come from Kumasi to kill him could not be proved under cross-examination. Justice Logoh said the complainant�s refusal to obey a subsisting court order did not go to his credibility as a witness. �For me, it only opened him to be cited for contempt of court,� he said. Considering the evidence before the court, Justice Logoh said he had no option but to set aside the conviction and sentence of the appellants.