Court fines four for assault on police officers

A Sogakope Magistrate Court has sentenced four persons who assaulted Police officers at Suipe-Kpelikope to a fine of GH¢600.00 each.

The convicts, besides the fines, would serve a day in prison custody.

The convicts, who are farmers, pleaded guilty to the charges of assault and obstruction of Police lawful duty.

They will go to prison for six months if they fail to pay the fine.

They are Grace Sodzi 40, Sodzi Kudzitsa Gbordzi 40, Kwame Dordzi 50 and Klutse Avor 54.

Police Chief Inspector Paul Addo Dwumah told the court presided over by Mr Justice Addo that the convicts played key roles in attacking the Police in the discharge of their lawful duty in a case the Akatsi South Social Welfare Department was investigating.

The case involves a fight among relatives over the custody of a child.

The prosecution said on Thursday, January 21, six Police officers, including a detective PW Sergeant, Patience Dzihlornu from the Domestic and Victim Support Unit (DOVVSU), went to Suipe-Kpelikope, a farming community in the Akatsi South Municipality to find out why the relatives in the matter failed to appear for arbitration.

He said the convicts, wielding offensive implements such as cutlasses, stones and other objects, surrounded the Police vehicle and threatened to kill the officers.

Chief Inspector Dwumah said one officer was physically hit by blows around the chest and another at the neck.

The prosecution said the Officers tried to calm tensions but that didn’t materialise.

The court, after hearing the convicts, fined them 50 penalty units each, an equivalent of GH¢600 with a day stay in prison custody.

Chief Superintendent Atsu Joseph Dzineku, Akatsi South Municipal Police Commander, said the conviction would serve as a deterrent to others, who take the laws into their own hands.

Source: GNA