Death of suspect in police cells at Half Assini; 5 inmates charged (video)
The police administration has charged five inmates who were on detention at the Half Assini District Police station for beating a fellow inmate to death.
The deceased was said to have disturbed the sleep of the inmates and stepped on one of them whilst they were asleep and hence they allegedly assaulted him.
The Ghana News Agency (GNA) reported that the five accused persons have since been arraigned at the Half-Assini District Magistrate Court in the Western Region and have been remanded to reappear on April 27, 2017.
They are Mathias Armakah, 19, a vulcanizer, John Cudjoe 32, a palm wine tapper, Kofi Anlimah, 20, a mason, Nicholas Atsu, 27 and Kojo Ofori, 22, both fishermen. Their pleas were not taken.
Attack on police station
It would be recalled that some residents from the Ekpu community in the Half Assini District recently attacked the District Police station over the death of a suspect who was in police cells.
The deceased was in cells on suspicion of stealing a dress. He was denied bail and spent more than 72 hours in cells.
Read also: Residents attack Half Asini police station
Watch a video of the attack on the police station below
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During the attack on the station, policemen on duty were manhandled by the angry mob. The deceased was identified as Kwabena Assuah.
The mob attacked and damaged louvre blades and a police vehicle with registration number GP 3200.
They overturned the police counter, smashed it and took away the station diary, register of offences book and other documents.
The district crime officer in his attempt to calm the crowd was heckled and chased away to the standby police vehicle, which had its windscreen smashed.
The community members accused the investigator in charge of the case of not being fair and denying bail for the suspect when community elders went there to stand surety for his release.
The deceased was arrested after he was accused of stealing ladies dress and kept in the police cells for three days. On his second day in the cell, the deceased was said to have shouted a number of times and complained of seeing scary images inside the cell.
The deceased shared the cells with five other inmates who alleged that they could not sleep because Assuah kept walking and made noise.
In the process, he was said to have stepped on the leg of Nicholas Atsu who was on remand.
Atsu was said to have held Assuah’s legs and pulled him and according to the Western Regional Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Olivia Ewura Adiku, Assuah fell and hit his head on the ground.
“He was quiet for some time. Later he was found motionless and the inmates informed the policemen on duty and when he was rushed to Half Assini Government hospital for treatment, he was pronounced dead on arrival,” she said.
In court
The GNA reported that, prosecuting, Police Sergeant Richard Amoah, told the court presided over by Mr Abdul Majid Illiasu that at 09:05 hours on March 26 this year, the deceased aged 48, from Ekpu near Half-Assini, was arrested over an allegation of theft.
He said the deceased who was detained, shared the cells with the accused persons and that on March 27, the deceased was alleged to have been scared of some images he saw in the cells.
The Prosecution said, as a result, he paced up and down the cells and in the process stepped on the accused persons who were sleeping on the floor.
He said at about 16:00 hours the next day, Boah attempted to forcefully remove the Water Closet (WC) seat to enable him open the door leading to the cells so that he could go and swim in the sea since he said he was feeling some burning sensation on his body, the GNA reported.
He said at this point the accused persons in a bid to stop him from destroying the water Closet assaulted him.
The prosecution said hours later, the deceased was found lying on the floor motionless and was rushed to the Half-Assini Government Hospital for treatment but was pronounced dead.
With additional filings from the Ghana News Agency