A 28-year-old taxi driver, who knocked down a pedestrian at Tanoso, a suburb of Kumasi, and created the impression of sending him to a hospital, and rather dumped the injured at a secluded place, was slapped with a 12 year jail term by a Kumasi High Court at the weekend.
He was found guilty of manslaughter by a seven man jury ,and the presiding judge, Justice Jacob Boon, slapped him with the 12 year jail term in hard labour.
According to a Senior State Attorney, Mr Richmond Osei –Hwere, who presented the facts of the case before the court, the convict dumped the 41-year-old pedestrian at a lonely place around 8pm on November 13, 2007, and at a time that it was raining heavily, making it impossible for the victim to receive any kind of emergency medical care.
He explained that the victim, Alfred Kinto who suffered severe head and body injuries managed to crawl through the rains , but moments before he reached the road side, he collapsed, causing him to lie in the rains throughout the night, and only received support at the early hours of the following day.
He was rushed to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital for treatment, but died three days afterwards ,and pathological report indicated the cause of death to be severe head and body injuries and excessive bleeding.
The convict, Bossman Owusu, was charged with murder after he was arrested three days later and police had finished with their investigations, but after the trial, which lasted for almost three years, a jury of seven returned a verdict of manslaughter, compelling the Presiding Judge to slap a 12-year jail term on Bossman Owusu .
In his presentation, Mr Osei- Hwere said the convict who was in charge of a Daewoo taxi with registration number, AS7945 V, knocked down Alfred Kinto around 8pm on November, 13, 2007 , causing severe head and body injuries to the victim who was 41 years old.
He said moments afterwards, Owusu was assisted by sympathisers to convey Kinto to hospital for emergency medical care, but the driver dumped Kinto at a secluded place near the Tanoso Anglican Junior High School and sped off.
He explained that at that time, it was raining heavily, so the victim could not receive any support , and, therefore, managed to crawl slowly through the rains, hoping to come across any Good Samaritan who would convey him to hospital.
He said Kinto, however, collapsed when he had almost reached the road side at the Apatrapa Junction, and it was around 7;30 am the following morning that some residents who saw the pathetic posture of the victim, gathered round him, but because of his condition, he could not communicate with them.
Mr Osei–Hwere said a few minutes later, Nana Adade Mensah and Kwaku Owusu, who assisted Bossman Owusu to convey the victim in his car, arrived at the scene and decided to find out why so many people had gathered round the area, only to see that it was Kinto who was lying there in a coma.
He said they managed to rush him to the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital but he died three days later.
The Senior State Attorney said the two, who were witnesses in the case, and took the registration number of the vehicle that knocked down Kinto reported the incident to the police .
He said three days later, police investigations led to the arrest of Bossman Owusu, and at the time he was arrested, he had neither reported the incident to his car owner, nor the police.
He explained that due to the impact, the windscreen of the vehicle was smashed, but the convict, wanting to conceal his action, quickly repaired it .
The Senior State Attorney said after police investigations, the convict was charged with murder and arraigned.
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