<<Print>>

CHEN SHICA, the 42-year old Chinese national who allegedly went on car snatching spree at knife point around the Ashaiman area and later identified as the killer of another Chinese national at Hotel Koreana at Tema Community 12 on Tuesday entered a plea of not guilty through an interpreter before the Tema Circuit Court �B�. Chen Shicai had, on two occasions appeared before the same court to answer a charge of robbery but had his case adjourned because the court could not provide an interpreter to help with hearing as the suspect himself does not speak English. Speaking through Mr. James Yin of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, who acted as an interpreter, Chen Shicai pleaded not guilty to the charge of robbery. He explained to the court that he had no intention of robbing two taxis from their owners. According to him, he was compelled to snatch the taxis from their owners because he really wanted to get to the Kotoka International Airport where he was hoping to catch a flight back home. Responding to how he came by a butcher�s knife which he allegedly used in scaring the drivers to abandon their taxis, the suspect told the court that he picked the knife from a kitchen of the hotel. He pointed further through the interpreter that he was unfamiliar with the country and felt he was not safe, hence his decision to carry the knife with him. It is believed that he might have fled the hotel room after murdering a Chinese national, Huang Long Xiang, a small scale miner who was based at Dunkwa-on-Offin. The court presided over by His Honour Bart Plange-Brew after taking his plea adjourned the case to June 13, perhaps to allow enough time for further investigation. The suspect, according to prosecution, arrived in the country on April 16, 2013, and was arrested by a police night patrol team around 3:00am around the Ashaiman traffic light area when he tried to snatch a second taxi from its owner after he was involved in an accident with the first taxi he had earlier snatched from its owner. Chen Shicai after his arrest by the police night patrol team was later identified as the man who allegedly shared a hotel room with another Chinese national who was found dead in a pool of blood in a hotel room. He was said to have admitted killing the 52-year old deceased whose name was mentioned as Huang Long Xiang. The deceased reportedly travelled from his based with his Ghanaian driver, to Accra where they picked the suspect from the Kotoka International Airport to Hotel Koreana in Tema, Community 12. Even though it has not been established why Chen Shicai murdered the small scale miner, it is reportedly mentioned that he did so as a result of an argument both the suspect and the deceased had over a blanket in their hotel room. Outside the courtroom, Mr. James Yin expressed gratitude to the Ghana Police Service, especially the Community 11 and Ashaiman Police stations, handling the cases of murder and car snatching respectively. He told DAILY GUIDE that his checks with the two police stations revealed that the suspect was being handled well by the police, adding that feeding has been one of the areas the police did well. �When I spoke to him I realized that he was in a confused state and people under such conditions do not eat well but the police have managed to keep [him] well especially with feeding. I on behalf of the Chinese community here in Ghana say thank you for the wonderful works the police had been doing,� he remarked. He described Ghana as a wonderful place with warm hearted people who always made foreigners feel at home. The court is expected to continue with the case on June 13, 2013.