The Republic v Ntese (F3/003/2025) [2025] GHAHC 184 (23 July 2025)

IN THE SUPERIOR COURT OF JUDICATURE, IN THE HIGH COURTOF JUSTICE, COMMERCIAL DIVISION “B” (GENERAL JURISDICTION) HELD AT SUNYANI ON WEDNESDAY THE 23RD DAY OF JULY 2025 BEFORE HER LADYSHIP JUSTICE JOYCE BOAHEN, HIGH COURTJUDGE SUITNO. F3/003/2025 THEREPUBLIC V PETERMBOLANA NTESE JUDGMENT Accused personpresent Vivian Yayra Nti Boadu State Attorney appears with Rose Mmabila Anafo Assistant StateAttorney forthe Republic Patrick Yeboahappearsforthe accused person BACKGROUND TO THE CONVICTION AND SENTENCE OF THE ACCUSED PERSON The accused person was charged with manslaughter contrary to section 50 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). He was arrested and arraigned before the District 1 Court, Atebubu on 12th August, 2022 and remanded into lawful custody on the same date. He was committed on 27th November, 2024 to stand trial in this Court. He was admitted to bail pending trial on 27th November, 2024 after being in lawful custody for twoyearsand three months. Amedical report on the accusedperson on record fromthe Ghana Health Service, Atebubu dated 9th December, 2022 and signed by Dr. Osman Abdullah Musah, Medical Officer shows that the accused person is a known asthmatic client of the hospital for the past years. He has been in and outof the facility on several occasions with moderate to severeand acute Asthmatic attacks with few life threatening attacks. He has been stable until recently when he reported to the facility on 19th November, 2022 with shortners (sic) of breath, cough and chest pain. Assessment revealed moderate asthmatic attack and Bronchopneumonia. The report indicates that the accused person should avoid triggers that can lead to acute episodes by avoiding over crowded places, poor ventilation, dusty environment, strong centered perfumes, pollen etc. He is to be accorded the necessary assistance to reduce the frequency of acute attacks. The accused person has therefore been on bail from 27th November, 2024 that he was committed to stand trial in this Court until he was arraigned in this Court on 3rd March, 2025 and convicted and sentenced on 22nd July, 2025. From the date he was arraigned in this Court until he was convicted and sentenced is four months. The case did not gothroughjurytrial because the parties opted toenterintoaplea deal. 2 THEFACTS The facts are that; Bikala Ntese the deceased in this case was a twenty year old auto mechanic apprentice who resided in Ahontor,a community in Atebubu. The accused person Peter Mbolana Ntese is Bikala Ntese’s 50 year old father who is a farmer and also resides in Ahontor. Bikala Ntese lived with his parents and six other siblings in the same house. On 4th August, 2022 at about 2:30pm, Bikala Ntese’s uncle Jayom Isaac Ntefuni, a teacher returned home from school and found Bikala Ntese in his room without his knowledge or permission. He suspected that Bikala Ntese entered the room on a mission to steal because they did not live in the same house. He detained Bikala Ntese and invited the accused person to inform him about his son’s nefarious activity. When the accused person came, Jayom Isaac Ntefuni told him that he found Bikala Ntese ransacking his room and that he suspected that Bikala Ntese was looking for something to steal. The accused person became angry at Bikala Ntese for leaving his work place to steal from his uncle’s room. Bikala Ntese disregarded the accused person’s scolding and started walking out. This got the accused person more annoyed. Out of anger, the accused person picked a piece of quarter rod and threw same at Bikala Ntese. The metal rod hit and pierced the back side of Bikala Ntese’s head. He fell down immediately and became unconscious. The accused person realizing that he may have killed his own son attempted to commit suicide by hitting his head with a stick. Some passersby rushed to Bikala Ntese and tried to revive him but their attempt was unsuccessful. They rushed him to the Atebebu Government Hospital in a semi unconscious state but he died shortly on arrival. The hospital authorities informed the police about the incident 3 which led to the arrest of the accused person. In his investigation cautioned statement, the accused admitted the offence and pleaded for forgiveness. He claimed that he acted out of anger and did not intend to kill his own son. It is based on these facts that the accused was committed tostand trial beforethe Court. CONSIDERATIONOF THESENTENCE As stated supra, the accused person was arraigned in this Court on 3rd March, 2025. When his plea was due to be taken, the parties announced to the Court that that they intend to enter into aplea deal. Notice of the plea dealwas filed on3rd July,2025and the plea agreement was filed on 8th July, 2025. The Court and both Counsel for the Republic and the accused person agreed that both Counsel should address the Court on the proposed sentence of one month imprisonment in the plea agreement in accordance with section 162 I (3) of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) (Amendment) Act, 2022, (Act 1079) (Plea Bargaining Act) and Paragraph H (d) of the Practice Direction on Plea Bargaining, 2024,which statesasfollows; “In considering the sentence, the Court may invite the prosecutor and the accused person or Counselfor the accusedperson to address the Court.” Pursuant to the above, the Court granted both Counsel leave to address it for considerationofsentence tobe imposed onthe accused person. 4 COUNSEL FORACCUSEDPERSON’SADDRESS My Lady, it is our humble submission before you this afternoon that the accused person be sentenced in accordance with the plea agreement that was filed on 8th July, 2025. My Lady, we make this submission based on the following reasons. First of all, the accused person happens to be the father of the deceased victim in this case. The deceased is the third of seven children ofthe accused person. From the facts of the case, the unfortunate incident that led to the death of the deceased happened when the accused person was trying or attempting to discipline the deceased for unlawfully entering into the room of the deceased’s uncle. My Lady, although the acts of the accused person in disciplining the deceased ultimately led to the death of the deceased, his act was done without any malice and without any pre-meditation whatsoever. My Lady, indeed when the incident happened the accused person upon seeing that his son was unconscious immediately showed a sign ofremorse. My Lady as the facts show, the accused person was so much devastated to the extent that he nearly committed suicide as he saw that the act that he did in his attempt to discipline his own son has deprived him of his beloved son. My Lady, as a sign of remorse, the accused person also cooperated with the Police throughout the investigation process. My Lady, he has also decided to plead guilty to the charge of manslaughter without taking the state or the prosecution and the Court through any lengthy trial. My Lady, I also want the Court to take cognizance of the age of the 5 accused person. My Lady at the time of his arrest he was fifty (50) years old. My Lady, he is currently taking care of ten children including two children of the deceased. My Lady, a lengthy sentence looking at his age coupled with the fact that he is the sole bread winner, will not be in the interest of these children as they would be deprived of the basic necessities of theirfather and grandfather. The youngest among the children is two years who is a child of the deceased and some are aged between 5 and 3 years up to 25 years. He has a wife who is a farmer. We pray the Court to take into consideration the number of years the accused person has spent in lawful custody. My Lady, the accused person was arrested somewhere in August 2022. He was kept in custody throughout investigations and the committal proceedings. My Lady,indeed he was released by the District Court on bail in viewof the fact that his medical condition was getting worse day by day. My Lady, as the record may bear us out, the District Magistrate upon seeing that the health of the accused was getting deteriorated, ordered that the accused person be sent to the Government Hospital at Atebubu for medical examination. My Lady, upon being sent to the hospital it came to light that the accused person was an asthmatic patientand was alsosufferingfrompneumonia. Looking at his health condition, it was not desirable for him to be continuously kept in custody. My Lady, it was based on this that the accused person was granted bail pending trial before this Court. My Lady, as we speak, he is still taking his medication. We submit that a lengthy custodial sentence will not be in the interest of the accused person’s health condition. 6 My Lady, finally, we also submit that My Lady takes into consideration that the accused person is a first time offender. That the record will show that he has not had any brush with the law save the offence he is now standing trial in this Court. My Lady, it is our humble submission that all the factors that have been submitted before you be taken into consideration before you respectfully pass the recommended sentence that was agreed on between the Republic on one part and the accused person on the other part. MyLady,werespectfully submit. COUNSEL FORRESPONDENT’SADDRESS Your Ladyship with respect, we in fact agree with Counsel on his submission to the Court and would like to add that the accused person indeed acted out of anger. That anger caused him to throw a piece of quarter rod at his own recalcitrant son. Unfortunately, this act of the accused caused harm to his son and eventually led to his death. My Lady fromthe facts the accused did not intend to kill his son. However, MyLady,his act of throwing an iron rod at his own son was negligent. That negligence amounted to a reckless disregard for human life hence a charge of manslaughter against him. My Lady, while the Republic acknowledges that the accused person committed a serious offence, the prosecution will humbly urge the Court to impose the recommended sentence on the accused for the following reasons; That the accused person before the Court is more of a grieving father than a hardened criminal and his life has already been altered by the tragic loss of his son by an event in a 7 moment of provocation and anger. My Lady, we can even say that the accused person is already servingalife sentenceby hisown doing. My Lady, from the facts, his deceased son had just been caught stealing and as a father he acted on the spur of the moment and in an attempt to discipline his son rather than harm him. My Lady, in our view respectfully this is a peculiar case in which a long sentence will not be in the interest of justice. My Lady, for me this is one of the reasons why the punishment prescribed by law for manslaughter under section 296 (2) ofAct 30 is life imprisonment or any lesser term. My Lady, our second reason is also the fact that the accused person like my brother said is the sole provider for his wife, children and grandchildren.Along custodial sentence will deprive his family of the care and support that he has been giving them. Your Ladyship, in the light of the above we pray the Courtto impose the recommended sentence onthe accused person. BYCOURT; After hearing Counsel for the accused person and Counsel for the Republic, the Court accepted the plea agreement filed on 8th July, 2025 by the parties. Before the plea of the accused person was taken, the Court interacted with the accused person and confirmed that the accused person entered and signed the plea agreement voluntarily, that he understood the consequences of his plea and that his rights under the law including his 8 right that by pleading guilty, he waives his right to go through full trial were explained to him. He further confirmed that the plea agreement was read out and interpreted to him in Twi language and he understood it before he signed it. It is useful to note that technically there is no Complainant in this matter since the accused person is the father ofthe deceased victim. CHARGE Manslaughtercontraryto section50oftheCriminal OffencesAct, 1960(Act 29). Chargereadout inEnglish andinterpreted totheaccused personin Twilanguage. PLEA The accused personpleaded guilty tothe charge The facts were read out in English and interpreted to the accused person in Twi language. CONVICTION The accused person was convicted on his own plea to the offence of manslaughter contrarytosection50ofthe CriminalOffencesAct, 1960(Act 29). 9 Section 296 (2) of the Criminal and Other Offences (Procedure) Act, 1960 (Act 30) provides that; “(2) Where a criminal offence which is not an offence mentioned in subsection (5), is declared by an enactment to be a second degree felony and the punishment for that offence is not specified, a person convicted of that offenceis liable toa term of imprisonmentnotexceeding ten years.” The Court understands the above provision to mean that for a charge of manslaughter the Court has a discretion to impose a sentence of one day imprisonment to ten years imprisonment depending onthe peculiar circumstances ofeachcase. From the facts as narrated by the Republic the incident happened on 4th August, 2022. The accused person was first arraigned in the District Court Atebubu on 12th August, 2022 and he was remanded into custody. Committal proceedings was completed on 27th November, 2024 that is about two years three months later. After committal proceedings was completed, the accused person was admitted to bail pending trial by the District Court Atebubu on the same day, 27th November, 2024. A medical report on the accused person on record from the Ghana Health Service Atebubu dated 9th December, 2022 shows that the accused person is asthmatic and he has been in and out of the facility on several occasions with moderate to severe and acute asthmatic attacks with few life threatening attacks. The report indicates that the accused person should 10 avoid triggers that can lead to acute episodes such as avoiding over crowded places, poor ventilation, dusty environmentetc. toreducethe frequency of acute attacks. The accused person as the Court observed him is an epitome of a deeply troubled and devastatedpersonas aresult of his son’s deathcaused by his ownhands unintentionally. He could hardly sit in the chair for one minute without expressing some feeling of restlessness in Court. In the Court’s view, this is not a person who should be incarcerated any longer after he has been on bail for over two years.As Counsel for the Republic puts it, the accused personis already serving alife sentence having lost his son by his own doing. The facts indicate that he was suicidal after the loss of his son and he attempted to take his own life by hitting his head with a stick but he was not successful. There is therefore no doubt about his agreement to plead guilty to the charge because he does not appear as someone who could go through a full dressed jury trial coupled withadjournments and allthe technicalities associated with it. In the light of the above and based on the addresses of both Counsel the Court accepts the plea agreement as filed by the parties and finds the following mitigating factors whichshould inure tothe accused person’sbenefit; 1. That theaccused personis afirst offender 11 2. That the accused person, although he wasnegligent, did not intend to kill his son. His action was actuated by anger on the spur of the moment and in his bid to correcthis wayward sonwithout malice and pre-meditation 3. He has shown great remorse after the death of his son, hence, his decision to pleadguiltyvoluntarily 4. He was fifty (50) years old at the time he committed the offence and he is now fifty three (53)yearsold 5. He is a family man with ten children including two grandchildren (children of his deceased son) and a wife. Therefore, incarcerating him will worsen his plight and thatofhis dependants 6. He was admitted to bail at the District Court, Atebubu because of his health that was deteriorating as he was suffering from asthma and pneumonia and he is still onmedication. 7. The accused personis moreofagrieving fatherthanahardened criminal 12 8. Along sentence will notbe inthe interest ofjustice. Section 162 I (1) – (5) of Act 1079 and paragraph H (a) to (f) of the Practice Direction on Plea Bargaining 2024provide asfollows; (1) Where the Court accepts a plea agreement and convicts an accused person, the Court shall considerthe recommendedsentence in the pleaagreement. (2) Where the plea agreement does not include a recommended sentence, the Court may subject toany enactment, impose asentence as the Courtconsidersjust. (3) In considering the sentence, the Court may invite the prosecutor and the accused person or counselfor the accusedperson to addressthe Court. (4)The Courtshall also take intoaccount (a)the period the accused personhas spentin detentionin respectof the offence (b)the personal circumstancesof the accused person (c)a written or oral statement made by the victim or the complainant or the representative of the victimor the complainantin respectof the pleaagreement (d)the stage of the proceedings atwhich the pleaagreementwas concluded; and (e)any restitution or compensation contained inthe plea agreement (5) Where the Court is satisfied that the sentence recommended is appropriate, the Court shall sentence the accusedperson inaccordance with the pleaagreement. 13 Upon considering the plea agreement filed on 8th July, 2025 and upon hearing Counsel for the accused person and the Republic, the Court takes notice that the accused person was arraigned before the District Court, Atebubu on 12th August, 2022. He was committed for trial on 27th November, 2024 and he was admitted to bail after being in lawful custody for two years and three months. Upon considering the circumstances of the accused person which is that of a grieving father, a deeply troubled and devastated person and upon taking further notice that the accused person was arraigned in this Court on 3rd March, 2025 and the plea deal was filed on 8th July, 2025 which is four (4) months, the Court is satisfied with the plea agreement. Consequently, the Court hereby sentences the accused person to one (1) day imprisonment in addition to having spent twoyears,threemonths inlawfulcustody. (SGD) JUSTICEJOYCE BOAHEN HIGHCOURTJUDGE 23RDJULY2025 14 15