A Sekondi High Court has sentenced a 92-year-old farmer, John Afful, to six-months in prison for killing his son for harvesting coconut without his permission.
The judge considered the age of the convict in handing him the six-month sentence.
Presenting the facts to the court, a Senior State Attorney, Mr. George Sackey, said the deceased, Erzuah Afful, aged 25, was the son of the convict and they both lived at Ayinase in the Ellembelle District of the Western Region.
He said on July 11, 2010, at about 2:00p.m., the convict went to his nearby coconut plantation at Fia-Ketewa, a village near Ayinase, where he met his son busy peeling dried coconuts.
Upon seeing the father, Erzuah took to his heels leaving behind the peeling iron bar tool and the sacks. The father then picked the items and took them to his cottage.
According to Mr Sackey, Erzuah later followed up to the cottage to collect the items unaware that the father was waiting for him patiently with fully cocked gun.
He said when Erzuah walked into the room to pick the items, the convict pulled the trigger killing the son instantly.
Realizing that son had died, John Afful then went to his elder son Stephen Afful, at a distilling camp and briefed him about the incident and sought his assistance in concealing the body.
The ploy
The Senior State Attorney said the father, then suggested to the elder son that they should dump the body in a nearby river.
He said the son who did not agree to his father’s suggestion asked him to take the lead and he sneaked through the bush and alerted the police.
Mr. Sackey said the police immediately proceeded to the riverside and on their way met John Afful and arrested him.
He said the body of the deceased was found with a gunshot wound on the face.
<<Print>>