Police Commander refuses out of court settlement in assault case against Painstil
Former Black Stars defender, John Paintsil, is set to make more appearances at the Accra Circuit Court after a complainant in a case in which he has been charged with assaulting a public officer refused an out of court settlement.
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Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), Mr Emmanuel Basintale, yesterday refused a suggestion from the court, presided over by Mrs Patricia Quansah, for the two parties to resort to alternative dispute resolution (ADR) to settle the matter.
Paintsil is alleged to have assaulted the senior police officer, who is the East Legon District Police Commander.
The alleged assault is said to have taken place when Painstil was invited to the East Legon Police Station following a report by his wife that he had allegedly stolen a car belonging to her.
Not guilty
The ex-Fulham star has pleaded not guilty to four counts of causing harm, offensive conduct conducive to the breach of peace, assault of a public officer and threat to harm.
He has been granted bail in the sum of GH¢5,000 with one surety.
No settlement
The stage for the legal battle was clearly set yesterday when Mr Basintale refused a suggestion from the trial judge to explore the option of ADR to help both him (police commander) and Paintsil save the time that they would be using to appear in court.
According to her, owing to the nature of his job as a police commander and that of Paintsil as a footballer, ADR could help save them considerable time.
The District Police Commander, however, refused the suggestion of the court and stated that he wanted the case to proceed in the court.
“I am not amendable to settlement,” he said.
In view of his decision, the court proceeded to start the full hearing of the case.
The hearing could not take place immediately following a request from counsel of the footballer, Mr Victor Adawudu, for the court to delay it because he had another case at the High Court.
The court granted his request and stood the case down for an hour.
Hearing in camera
Journalists in the courtroom were left disappointed after the court decided to hear the proceedings in camera when the case was recalled.
With the hearing taking place in the judge’s chambers, all the disappointed journalists could do was to wait and pray for information after the hearing had ended.
After about an hour and half later, the proceedings in camera came to a close and all the parties involved in the case emerged from the judge’s chambers.
Mr Adawudu refused to reveal what transpired in the judge’s chambers, but informed the anxious journalists that the case had been adjourned to the first week in October.