THREE TOWN SHS



YESTERDAY IN COURT.

(The republic vrs The accused - Gilbert Akakpo)


28TH SEPTEMBER, 2021.


Today's proceedings started with an objection from the defence counsel. The counsel for the accused( Raymond Afawubo) detected some queer error on the witness statement of the accused. The learned judge called for a snap recess to get the anomaly corrected. After about 10 minutes sitting resumed with a tectonic cross-examination by the state prosecutor( chief inspector Bob Wudah).


The accused ( Gilbert Akakpo) who looked very tensed up and squinting his eyes uncontrollably was cross-examined by the state prosecutor. The Modus Operandi of the prosecutor was to expose the duplicity and prevarications inherent in his witness statement and also to establish the malevolent nature of the accused. The manic prosecutor strenuously interrogated the accused on his statement that he slept in the cell for two days. The chief inspector stated which was a matter of record that the accused was arranged before the court the day after the incident(12 August 2021). In his defence, the accused alleged that he was kept in a cell after he was arranged before the court which constitutes two days. But the prosecutor quickly reminded him that he was kept in a cell because he couldn't meet the bail condition that very day he was granted bail by the court and that can't constitute two days of detention. The accused in his witness statement allege that he also bled in his nose and palms after the fisticuffs. The prosecutor put it before the accused that he was not bleeding at any part of his body when he first appeared at the police station and that it was all a fabrication. 


On the issue of the cutter which was used to commit the dastardly act, the accused maintain that although he had the cutter in his hands, it was defective and incapable of causing a laceration. But the dexterous state prosecutor told him he deliberately caused harm to the complainant( John Akey). In his conclusion, the state prosecutor told the court that the complainant has the blessings of GES to protect, preserve and prevent anybody from harming other students on campus hence the intervention of the complainant in preventing him from bullying John Ezekiel the first-year student at the centre of this incident is in order.


When the second defence witness(Francis Akakpo) who incidentally is the father of the accused took his turn he was very calm and innocent in the witness box. In his witness statement, he said after the incident he was bringing his son to the police station to complain but was refused by the CID. When his feet were put in the fire by the prosecutor that he received a call from the district commander to bring his son to the police station he said he was already on his way to the police station before the call but decided to return to the school to confer with the headmistress to apprise himself with the brouhaha this elicited some murmurings from the public gallary. 


The state prosecutor continued his probing questions by asking the father of the accused whether he was aware he sought an out of court settlement when he visited the headmistress, the fidgeting learned lawyer objected to this question on the ground of irrelevancy his objection was sustained.


When he was also questioned on the cutter he affirmed that the cutter was indeed defective as said by his son. The prosecutor in his conclusion told the court that the second defence witness deliberately sought to mislead and obfuscate the issues.


The counsel for the accused decline reexamination of his clients and prayed to the court to give him ample time to file his written address. The presiding judge( Francis fosu) asked the prosecutor and the defence lawyer to file their respective addresses on or before the 12th of October 2021 for JUDGEMENT to be delivered on the 3rd day of November 2021. 


Today's sitting was witnessed by some family members of the accused and some members of staff of three town schools. 


THREE TOWN NEWS SPIED BY NEWS FEED HUB


JUDGEMENT DAY 3RD NOVEMBER, 2021.