- The 37-year-old man was given a 20-year prison sentence with hard labor after he shot and killed two uniformed police officers in Buduburam, near Kasoa, in 2019.
- Eric Kojo Duah admitted admission to two charges of manslaughter and was given the sentence by the Accra High Court.
- That came after his attorney worked with the Attorney General’s Office to arrange a plea deal. The defendant had entered a not guilty plea to two charges of murder, and the prosecution had already called its first witness prior to the presiding judge’s transfer, which resulted in the case being reopened with the appointment of a new jury.
- But his lawyer, Augustine Obour, told the court that the convict was willing to plead guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter as agreed with the prosecution, and plead not guilty to the charge of murder levelled against him.
- During sentencing, Justice Simmons indicated that he did not show remorse in the courtroom during the duration of the case.
- She said “the nature of the offence was such that, in my view, it was disrespectful of authority. For a civilian to shoot two policemen on the street, not once but about twice, each leading to their death is a threat to public safety and security.”
- The judge held that from the facts, the convict had actually committed some road traffic offence for which the police were pursuing him, and for him to have shot both of them on the street, regardless of the presence of onlookers, was dangerous.
- She said she was obliged to take into consideration the public interest, which she did, and having considered all these, including the sentencing guidelines, she sentenced Eric Kojo Duah to 20 years’ imprisonment on two counts of manslaughter to run concurrently.
Source:
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