Worker Attacks Supervisor Over Salary Increment

An Accra Circuit Court, presided over by Aboagye Tandoh, has remanded one Anthony Bansah, a mechanic with Rong Chen Company, manufacturers of T and J plastic panels, for robbing and causing harm to his supervisor.

Anthony Bansah was said to have attacked Bai Xiaoyong in protest for a pay increase, which the complainant had refused to do. Prosecuting, Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) Kweku Bempah told the court that the accused allegedly robbed the complainant of his iPhone 6 plus, valued at GH¢3,000, after he had caused harm to him.

When he appeared before the court, he pledged not guilty to the offence against him. He was, however, charged with robbery, contrary to section 149 of the criminal offences act (1960), and remanded into prison custody.

The case was adjourned to March 31, 2016.
Facts
The facts of the case, as presented to the court by DSP Kweku Bempah, revealed that the complainant in this case is Bai Xiaoyong, a Supervisor at the Rong Chen Company Limited, manufactures of T and J plastic panels, whilst the accused person, Anthony Bansah, aged 19 years, is a mechanic with the same company.

According to him, on March 8 this year, at about 7:00 p.m., the accused person and his colleagues reported for work as usual. At about 2:00 a.m. that dawn, the accused person secretly sneaked out of the factory.

He explained that the accused went to the back of the factory and used a long metal bar to create an opening in the wall into the engine room. He then passed through the opening into the engine room.

The accused changed into all black attire and switched off the plant that controls the supply of water to all the manufacturing machines in the factory.

DSP Bempah further explained that the complainant, with his iPhone 6 plus mobile phone, rushed into the dark engine room to restore the machine.  According to him, immediately the complainant entered, the accused person held him by the neck from behind. The accused used a fully charged taser shocker against the neck of the complainant to overpower him. He also bit the left ear, resulting in a cut.

In the process of inflicting pains on the complainant, DSP Bempah said the accused forcibly collected the iPhone 6 plus from him and escaped through the opening he created in the wall and hid it under a container placed in the yard.  He added that the accused quickly changed his dress from black into green singlet and jeans shorts, entered through the main gate to the bathroom, where he remained for thirty minutes before showing up.

A distress call was made to the police that robbers had entered the factory. The police responded, and during interrogation of all the workers, it came up that the accused was the only one whose whereabouts was not known to his colleagues at the time of the attack.  The accused was, therefore, arrested for interrogation. An examination of his body revealed bruises and blood stains.

Upon further interrogation as to how he sustained those wounds, the accused broke down and confessed to the crime, with the excuse that it was in protest for pay increase, which the Chinese had refused to do. He led police to retrieve the phone which had been hidden under the container, the black dress and the metal bar.

By Ethel Mensah

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