Kasoa teen ‘killers’ face judgement May 7

A High Court in Accra has set May 7 to sum up evidence in the trial of the two teenagers accused of killing an 11-year-old boy, Ishmael Abdallah, at Kasoa in April 2021.

The court will on that day give both the prosecution and the defence lawyers the opportunity to address the seven-member jury, after which it will sum up the evidence, led by the prosecution and the defence put up by the accused persons.

The jury will then retire to deliberate on the issues raised, after which they will return a verdict of either guilty or not guilty based on their assessment of the evidence before them.

The trial judge, Justice Lydia Osei Marfo, set the date yesterday after giving defence lawyers another opportunity to file their closing addresses.

Dorcas Feli, a Senior State Attorney at the Office of the Attorney General had indicated that the prosecution has filed its closing address as ordered by the court on February 14.

Samuel Atuah, counsel for the first accused, however, indicated that he was not able to file the closing address due to circumstances beyond his control.

He, therefore, asked the court for “a short grace period probably by Monday (March 18) to file same at the Registry of this court.”

Mr. Atuah also told the court that Martin Kpebu, counsel for the second accused, had also indicated that he had some challenges so he was unable to file the closing address but he will take steps to file same on March 18.

Justice Marfo subsequently granted the lawyers leave to file their closing address on March 18, 2024, while adjourning the case to May 7 for summing-up.

Murder
The two teenagers have been charged with two counts of conspiracy to commit murder, and the substantive charge of murder.

The court during the prosecution's case heard that the young boy was still alive when the accused persons buried him in a shallow grave.

The first accused has 'confessed' to the crime both at the District Court during the committal and at the High Court where they are standing trial.

He subsequently pleaded not guilty to murder but pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit murder. The court entered a plea of 'not guilty' for him.

The second accused, on the other hand, has denied the offence both at the District Court and pleaded not guilty to conspiracy to murder and a substantive charge of murder at the High Court.

In his defence before the court, when his lawyer asked him to tell the court what he knows about the young boy's death, he said, “I do not know anything about the death of Ishmael Mensah Abdallah.”

Investigator
The investigator, Chief Inspector Isaac Asiedu Odei, as part of his testimony, tendered in evidence the handle of a pickaxe, which one of the accused used to hit the victim on the head.

He also tendered in evidence two cement blocks, one of them used to hit the victim on the forehead after he had been hit with the pickaxe handle.

Chief Inspector Odei again tendered in evidence, a shovel and a spade which the accused persons used in digging a shallow grave in which they buried the victim who was still breathing.

The investigator, in his evidence, told the court that one of the accused had confessed that he hit the deceased with a full block which later broke into pieces after landing on the forehead of the deceased.

-DGN online