REPUBLIC VRS. ISAAC AND ANOTHER (D21/03/22) [2025] GHACC 29 (10 February 2025)

IN THE CIRCUIT COURT “A”, TEMA, HELD ON THURSDAY, THE 10TH DAY OF APRIL, 2025, BEFORE HER LADYSHIP JUSTICE AGNES OPOKU-BARNIEH, SITTING AS ADDITIONAL CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE SUIT NO: D21/03/22 THE REPUBLIC VRS: 1. SOPHIA ISAAC 2. SUCCESS WISDOM 3. OLUCHUKWU @ SOLOMON-AT LARGE ACCUSED PERSONS (EXCEPT A3) PRESENT INSP. EMMANUEL SANATE HOLDING THE BRIEF OF D.S.P. STELLA NASUMONG FOR PROSECUTION PRESENT JULIUS ACKAH, ESQ. WITH PRISCILLA YEBOAA BEDIAKO, ESQ. FOR THE ACCUSED PERSONS PRESENT JUDGMENT FACTS: The first and second accused persons were arraigned before this court on 4th October, 2021 on the following charges: 1. Conspiracy to commit crime, namely the prohibition of human trafficking, contrary to Section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and Section 2(2) of the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694). 2. Human trafficking, contrary to Section 2(2) of the Human Trafficking Act, 2005 (Act 694). 3. Assault, contrary to Section 84 of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29). 1 The brief facts narrated by the prosecution are that the victim, Daniella Jackson, a 20- year-old Nigerian makeup artist, was allegedly deceived by the third accused person who was her friend into believing that the second accused person was seeking a makeup artist and willing to pay a salary of 500,000 Naira (GH₵7,339.00). Based on this assurance, the victim travelled to Ghana in March 2021. The prosecution alleges that upon arrival, the second accused person allegedly informed the victim that she was expected to engage in prostitution rather than practice as a makeup artist. The prosecution claimed that the victim was forced to engage in prostitution for three days and earned GH₵650.00 which the second accused person took from her. The prosecution further claims that the victim was then sent to the first accused person to serve her. Additionally, the prosecution alleged that the victim became pregnant and was forced by the first accused person to undergo an abortion. The first accused person reportedly administered drugs to induce the abortion after which the victim began bleeding. The prosecution further alleges that on 21st September, 2021, the victim escaped from the first accused person’s house and hid at a friend’s residence in Sakumono Village. On 24th September, 2021, she returned to Tema Newtown where she was allegedly locked in a room by the first and second accused persons. Again, on 25th September 2021, at midnight, the first and second accused persons allegedly took the victim to Kpone, Tema, where they beat her until 4:00 a.m. before taking her back to Newtown and locked her in a room again. The prosecution states further that the victim managed to escape once more and on 27th September, 2021, lodged a formal complaint at the Anti-Human Trafficking Unit in Tema. Following her complaint, the first and second accused persons were arrested. The victim was issued a Police Medical Form and taken to the hospital for treatment which at the time of presenting the case, the prosecution stated that they were awaiting the results. 2 THE PLEA The first and second accused persons pleaded not guilty to all the charges when they were read and explained to them in English. By pleading not guilty, the accused persons put the prosecution’s case in issue, thereby placing the burden of proof on the prosecution to establish their guilt beyond reasonable doubt. To prove their case, the prosecution called three witnesses, Daniella Jackson (the alleged victim), No. 6937 D/CPL. Nafisatu Tahiru (the investigator) and the Dr. Claudia Nyarkoaa Ellis, an Obstetrics and Gynaecology Specialist at the Tema General Hospital. The prosecution also tendered in evidence the following documents; Exhibit “A”: Investigation Caution Statement of the first accused person. Exhibit “A1”: Further Investigation Caution Statement of the second accused person. Exhibit “B”: Investigation Caution Statement of the second accused persons. Exhibit “C”: Charge Statement of the second accused person. Exhibit “D”: Charge statement of the first accused person. Exhibit “E”: Police Medical Report Form of the victim, Daniella Jackson. BURDEN OF PROOF The foundation of our criminal justice system is that a person accused of a crime is presumed not guilty until he has pleaded guilty or is proven guilty after a full trial. Thus, Article 19 of the 1992 Constitution of Ghana provides the rules of fair trial to safeguard the rights and liberties of persons accused of committing a crime. The Evidence Act, 1975 (NRCD 323) provides the burden and the standard of proof in criminal cases. Sections 11, 13 and 15 provide that whenever a person is accused of 3 committing a crime, it shall be the duty of the prosecution to prove the guilt of the accused person beyond reasonable doubt. In the case of The Republic v. Francis Ike Uyanwune [2013] 58 GMJ 162, C.A, it was held per Dennis Adjei J.A that; “The law is that the prosecution must prove all the ingredients of the offence charged in accordance with the standard burden of proof; that is to say the prosecution must establish a prima facie case and the burden of proof would be shifted to the accused person to open his defence and in so doing, he may run the risk of non- production of evidence and/ or non-persuasion to the required degree of belief else he may be convicted of the offence. The accused must give evidence if a prima facie case is established else he may be convicted and, if he opens his defence, the court is required to satisfy itself that the explanation of the accused is either acceptable or not. If it is acceptable, the accused should be acquitted, and if it is not acceptable, the court should probe further to see if it is reasonably probable. If it is reasonably probable, the accused should be acquitted, but if it is not, and the court is satisfied that in considering the entire evidence on record the accused is guilty of the offence, the court must convict him. The test is usually referred to as the three- tier test” When the accused persons are called to open their defence, all that is required of them is to raise a reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case. The standard of proof for the defence of the accused persons is on a preponderance of probabilities only. See the case of Osae v. The Republic [1980] GLR, 446. ANALYSIS On counts 1 and 2, the first and second accused persons are charged with Conspiracy to commit a crime namely; Prohibition of Human trafficking; contrary to Section 23(1) of the Criminal Offences Act, 1960 (Act 29) and Section 2(2) of the Human Trafficking Act, 2005(Act 694) and Human Trafficking contrary to Section 2(2) of the Human Trafficking Act, 2005(Act 694). The law on conspiracy as formulated by the Statute 4 Law Revision Commission under Section 23(1) of Act 29, is that conspiracy is committed: “Where two or more persons agree to act together with a common purpose for or in committing or abetting a criminal offence, whether with or without a previous concert or deliberation, each of them commits a conspiracy to commit or abet the criminal offence.” The essential ingredients of the offence of conspiracy which the prosecution must prove to secure conviction as stated in the decision of Justice Kyei Baffour, JA sitting as an additional High Court Judge in the case of the Republic v. Baffoe Bonnie and Others (Suit No. CR/904/2017 (Unreported) dated 12 May 2020 are that: 1. That there were at least two or more persons 2. That there was an agreement to act together. 3. That the sole purpose for the agreement to act together was for a criminal enterprise” The Supreme Court in the case Akilu v. The Republic [2017-2018] SCGLR 444 at 451, per Appau JSC concluded that: “The double-edged definition of conspiracy arises from the undeniable fact that it is almost always difficult if not impossible, to prove previous agreement or concert in conspiracy cases. Conspiracy could therefore be inferred from the mere act of having taken part in the crime where the crime was actually committed. Where the conspiracy charge is hinged on an alleged acting together or in concert, the prosecution is tasked with the duty to prove or establish the role each of the alleged conspirators played in accomplishing the crime” On the substantive offence of Human Trafficking contrary to Section 2(1) and 2(2) of Act 694 as amended by the Human Trafficking (Amendment) Act 2009, (Act 784). Section 2(1) and 2(2) which prohibits trafficking provide as follows: 5 “(1) A person shall not traffic another person within the meaning of section 1 or act as an intermediary for the trafficking of a person. (2) A person who contravenes subsection (1) commits an offence and is liable on summary conviction to imprisonment for a term of not less than five years.” Section 1 of the Act defines human trafficking in the following terms; “(1) Human trafficking means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring, trading or receipt of persons for the purpose of exploitation within and across national borders by; (a) the use of threats, force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, the abuse of power or exploitation of vulnerability, or (b) giving or receiving payments and benefits to achieve consent. “ (2) Exploitation shall include at the minimum, induced prostitution and other forms of sexual exploitation, forced labour or services, slavery or practices similar to slavery, servitude or the removal of organs. (3) Placement for sale, bonded placement, temporary placement, placement as service where exploitation by someone else is the motivating factor shall also constitute trafficking. In the case of The Republic v. Teye & Another, 2022 GHAHC, 17th November, 2022, the High Court, Hohoe identified the following essential elements of the offence which the prosecution must prove beyond reasonable doubt as follows; 1. That the accused recruited, transported, transferred, harboured, traded or received the Victim(s) for the purpose of exploitation within and across national borders and must do so by (a) the use of threats, force or other forms of coercion, abduction, fraud, deception, the abuse of power or exploitation of vulnerability, or (b) giving or receiving payments and benefits to achieve consent. 6 Similarly, in the case of The Republic v. Christiana Holdbrook and Dr. Redeemer Amegbo-Dela [2020] DLHC 10136, the High Court presided by George Buadi J, stated that: “The definition of the offence of human trafficking as per our domestic law above is essentially a reproduction of the United Nations Protocol that was adopted by the world body on the subject in 2000. The Protocol describes human trafficking as comprising three core elements: the action; the means, and the purpose or motivation. The action of trafficking means the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons. The means of trafficking include the threat of or use of force, deception, coercion, abuse of power or position of vulnerability. The purpose or motivation of trafficking is always one to exploit or to gain an advantage. In my view, therefore, the most crucial import of the offence of human trafficking and thus the crucial ingredient of proof at trials of the charge is not so much the action of recruitment, transport, or transfer of the victim, or the bare acting as an intermediary for that actions, but most importantly in my view the criminal means and the exploitative purpose or motivation behind the specified acts - recruitment, transport, and transfer of the victim. Human trafficking, therefore, is an organized criminal activity of persons in which human beings are treated as possessions to be controlled and exploited” The first prosecution witness Daniella Jackson, testified that in March 2021, whilst in Nigeria, she met her friend Oluchukwu @Solomon who introduced her to his sister, Success (the second accused person) as someone in need of the services of a Makeup Artist in Ghana. She agreed to work for the second accused person and asked how much she would be paid. Oluchukwu mentioned an amount of 500,000 Naira, equivalent to GH₵7339.00 at the time and arranged for her transportation to Ghana. The first prosecution witness further testified that in the same month, Oluchukwu invited her to his house and whilst there, a man arrived in a car and asked if she was 7 Daniella. After confirming her identity, the man called the second accused person and informed her that he had met her. The second accused person spoke with her and told her to join the car and they travelled to Lagos and continued their journey to Ghana. The second accused person then brought her to Aflao and dropped her off in Tema New Town. The first prosecution witness further testified that when she arrived in Ghana, the second accused person told her to engage in prostitution. She reluctantly agreed and worked for three days, earning GH₵650.00 which she gave to the second accused person as she was obligated to do so. The second accused person then sent her to the first accused person who also forced her to serve. She worked with the first accused person until she ran away after becoming pregnant and compelling her to abort it without proper care. The first prosecution witness further testified that she confided in a friend called Kalifa who sheltered her in his house in Sakumono. When she later went to Tema New Town, he was locked in the room of the first accused person until midnight. The second accused person and her boyfriend then took her to an unknown location. According to her testimony, they beat her, forced her to drink dirty water and stabbed her in the hand. The second accused person then inserted a bottle into her vagina, took a video of her whilst beating her and returned her to the first accused person’s place. The first prosecution witness continued her testimony by stating that the first and second accused persons brought three men into the room to have sex with her and recorded the act. Whilst escaping, she met a policewoman who advised her to report the incident. She reported the case to the police and was examined and treated at Tema General Hospital. She was then sent to Save Them Young Orphanage for shelter. Her medical form was endorsed and handed over to the investigator. The second prosecution witness, D/P/CPL. Nafisatu Tahiru, stationed at the Regional CID/Tema testified that on 27th September, 2021, the victim reported at the Police 8 Station that she was brought to Ghana by Oluchukwu to assist his sister. Upon arrival, she was forced into prostitution by the first and second accused persons who also maltreated her. The case was referred to her for investigations and as part of investigations, she obtained a witness statement from the victim detailing how she was lured to Ghana in March 2021 to work as a facial therapist but was then engaged in prostitution and mistreated. The second prosecution witness further testified that during investigations, the victim led her and three other police officers to Tema New Town where she pointed out the two accused persons, leading to their arrest. She obtained investigation caution statements from the first and second accused persons, admitted and marked as Exhibits “A” and “A1”. After obtaining these statements, the first accused person, made a further statement tendered as Exhibit “B”. According to the investigator, the accused persons denied beating the victim despite healed assault marks on the victim’s body. The victim was then sheltered at Save Them Young Orphanage whilst investigations continued. On 28th September, 2021, she issued a police medical form and took the victim to the Tema General Hospital for examination. After investigations, the accused persons were charged and brought to court. She tendered the charge statements as Exhibits “C” and “C1” and the medical form as Exhibit “D”. The third prosecution witness, Dr. Claudia Awurama Nyarkoaa Ellis, an Obstetrics and Gynaecology Specialist at the Tema General Hospital also testified and identified Exhibits “E” and “E1” as a medical report prepared by her. According to her testimony, the patient reported with a complaint of a 3-month history of vaginal discharge. She mentioned that she was abducted and she later found that she was pregnant and the pregnancy was terminated. The victim also intimated to her that a bottle was inserted into her vagina to terminate the pregnancy. On examination, there was discharge from the vagina and the cervix was healthy looking. She had pains in her lower abdomen and tenderness in the anus and cervical motion tenderness which 9 gave an impression of pelvic inflammatory disease. The medical officer under cross- examination by counsel for the accused person, testified that she could not confirm if a bottle was inserted into the victim’s vagina and could also not confirm if she was pregnant for two months which was terminated and that she diagnosed the victim with pelvic inflammatory disease. She could not also confirm the alleged knife wound on the hand of the alleged victim. The elements of the offences as gleaned from the evidence led by the prosecution witnesses is that the actions performed by the accused persons are getting the third accused person who is the brother of the second accused person to travel with the victim from Nigeria to Ghana under the pretext of working as a Make-Up artist. From the testimony of the witnesses, the accused persons transported the victim to Ghana through the deceit of the third accused person. The purpose for which the victim was allegedly transported to Ghana, utilising deceit was to engage in prostitution and through that she allegedly got pregnant and the accused persons allegedly gave her medication to abort the pregnancy and also inserted a bottle into her vagina and assaulted her as part of the maltreatment. The victim, under cross-examination by the Counsel for the accused persons testified as follows; Q: I am putting it to you that you were engaged in sex trade in Nigeria before coming to Ghana. A: My Lord, I was not. Q: It is true this same sex trade that you met the brother of the second accused person, Oluchukwu? A: No My Lord, he was my friend. Q: I am further putting it to you that they said Oluchukwu was your boyfriend. A: Yes My Lord. Q: For how long were you together with the said Oluchukwu before he told you about his sister in Ghana? 10 A: We were together for two months. The first prosecution witness emphasised that she did not know that the first and second accused persons were bringing her to Ghana to engage in commercial sex work. She further stated that at no point in her journey to Ghana did she inform the officers at any of the checkpoints that she was being brought to Ghana against her wish. She further confirmed that whilst living with the first accused person, she left home and went to live with one Khalifa at Sakumono Village who cared for her after the alleged abortion when she was bleeding, but this material witness was not called as a witness. The victim who also stated that whilst living with the first accused person, she got pregnant and was given oral medication to terminate the pregnancy and also inserted a bottle into her vagina, answered as follows under cross-examination; Q: I am putting it to you that on 12th November 2021, at 11:09 am, you were sent to the Tema General Hospital by the Police with complaints that you were beaten. A: Yes My Lord. Q: At the hospital, you informed the medical officer that you were abducted by some persons. Is that not so? A: No Please. Q: You also informed the medical officer that you were abducted by some persons. Is that not so? A: No please. Q: You also informed the doctor that you got pregnant whilst you were kidnapped. A: I was pregnant when I was with the first accused and not kidnapped. Q: You further told the doctor that you were given some medication to take orally and insert vaginally to terminate a two months pregnancy. Is that not so? A: Yes it is. Q: And that a bottle was inserted into your vagina to ensure that all the contents were out. A: I never said that. 11 THE DEFENCE OF THE FIRST ACCUSED PERSON The first accused person in her investigation caution statement, Exhibit “A”, is alleged to have confessed to the crime that the second accused person’s brother called her from Nigeria and that she wanted to travel from Ghana to Nigeria and that she arranged for her to come to Ghana, sent her money for transportation and engaged her in prostitution in Ghana and through that she became pregnant and the pregnancy was aborted. The investigation caution statement of the first accused person on the face of it and put together amounts to a confession to the alleged crimes of conspiracy to commit human trafficking and human trafficking. The principle of law is well-established that a court can act on the confession of an accused person provided that the confession was voluntarily given and that the confession was genuine. It behoves this court to ascertain the authenticity of the alleged confession given by the first accused person in the light of the evidence on record. In the case of Ekow Russel v. The Republic [2017-2020] 1 SCGLR at 469, the court held in its holding 6 that: “it was correct to state that the admission of a statement by a court did not necessarily mean that the statement was of evidential value so as to automatically result in conviction. A statement that was admitted into evidence must be weighed to determine whether it was valuable enough to sustain the conviction sought.” The first accused person in her defence testified that she is a Nigerian married to a Ghanaian and that she had been living in Ghana for eight years with her husband and children and works as a hairdresser in Tema Newtown. According to her testimony, she met the complainant in July 2021 through her friend, the second accused person, who introduced her as the girlfriend of the third accused person stranded in Ghana. Before meeting the complainant, she had never known or spoken to her. She decided to let her stay because her friend could not help her. She informed her husband, who was away on a trip, and he agreed. 12 Furthermore, the first accused person testified that the complainant had lived with her and assisted in her hairdressing business for a week, until one afternoon when she discovered her belongings had been ransacked. She realised that the victim had stolen GH₵2,000.00. She informed the second accused person, who advised her to calm down and said she would notify the third accused person in Nigeria. A month later, a friend mentioned that she had seen the victim at the Womb Hotel in Tema Newtown. She and the second accused person went there and found the victim. The victim was questioned about the theft and her phone was seized from her. The second accused person took her home but she fled again. The Court then ordered her to return the phone to the complainant, which she did. The first accused person denied transporting the complainant from Nigeria to Ghana. She met her when introduced by the second accused, a stranded Nigerian who needed help. Two days later, the Police arrested her and charged her with trafficking and abusing the complainant with a bottle in her vagina, which she vehemently denied. After her arrest, the Police Investigator wrote a statement she did not understand, requiring her to thumbprint. She asserts she’s never been involved in dubious business, child trafficking, or prostitution in Ghana or Nigeria. She’s a hairdresser and a responsible married woman living with her husband and 9-year-old daughter. Under intense cross-examination, the first accused person denied she sent money to Solomon to transport the victim to Ghana for prostitution. She claimed she’s married and lives with her husband and daughter. The victim ran away because she stole her money, so she seized the victim’s phone. When the victim brought the police to arrest her, she was still braiding someone’s phone. The defence witness, Nana Appiah Ebenezer, the husband of the first accused person, corroborated her testimony that they have been married for the past ten years, and they have two children together. He states that he had travelled when his wife called him to seek his permission to accommodate the victim, who she described as a friend’s sister 13 who was stranded in Ghana which he agreed. When he returned, he met the victim but he did not interrogate her and he had to leave again at dawn on a trip. Later, his wife informed him that the victim had stolen her money and absconded, and he advised her to lodge a complaint with the police. Later, he got information that his wife had been arrested by the police, and the court ordered her to release the phone she had seized from the complainant. He states that the first accused person is not into child trafficking or any dubious business in Ghana and has always been into the hairdressing business to support the family. He maintains that she only helped a fellow Nigerian who needed a place to stay, which she did with his consent. Under cross-examination by the prosecution, the defence witness testified that he married the first accused person in Nigeria before they moved to Ghana 8 years ago and that they have been married for the past 10 years. He was insistent that his wife was a hairdresser and at the time the first accused person called to seek his consent, the victim was already living with her and she accompanied her anytime she went out to braid for her customers. He states that when he returned from his trip, he got the opportunity to meet the complainant but he did not interrogate her. A close reading of the alleged victim’s testimony and her account of events leading her to Ghana and the defence put up by the second first accused person makes the statement attributed to the first accused person in the caution statement doubtful. The victim in her testimony, testified that she first dealt with the second accused person and her boyfriend in Nigeria. The second accused person arranged for her to come to Ghana and allegedly sent her money for transportation. Upon arrival, she was engaged in prostitution and later sent to live and work with the first accused person. Despite working with the first accused person and living with her, she became pregnant and forced her to abort. The statement attributed to the first accused person contradicts the prosecution’s facts and the testimony of the star prosecution witness, the alleged victim. How the police reversed the roles of the accused persons is incomprehensible. 14 THE DEFENCE OF THE SECOND ACCUSED PERSON The second accused person testified that she met the complainant in July 2021. The complainant’s brother and the victim’s mother told her that the complainant was stranded in Accra after travelling with others in Ghana. They asked her to find accommodation for the victim. She could not so she asked her friend, the first accused person, to help since she was a hairdresser who needed help. The victim lived with the first accused person for a week until she absconded with her GH¢2,000.00. She told her brother, the third accused person and the victim’s mother. The complainant left the first accused person’s house and they were worried about her. A month later, the first accused person told her the victim was seen at a hotel in Tema Newtown. They went there and found her. A scuffle ensued and the first accused person seized the complainant’s phone to get her to refund the money. The complainant intervened and promised to help the victim return the money. She took the complainant home and told the victim’s mother. Later that evening, whilst the complainant was taking a bath, she noticed bruises on her body she claimed her boyfriend physically abused her. They contacted him at Sakumono, who said he was looking for the victim too because she had stolen his money and phone. The next morning, she ran away again but was arrested two days later for allegedly bringing the complaint to Ghana to engage in prostitution. She claims she only offered help to a stranded Nigerian upon the request of her brother. She has lived in Ghana for six years and has never been involved in illegal activities, including child trafficking or prostitution. She lives with her husband, children and mother-in- law and helps her mother-in-law with her fish business. The second accused person in her caution statement is alleged to have admitted the offences. From the defence put up by the accused persons, the victim was already in Ghana when her boyfriend who is the brother of the second accused person asked her to look for 15 accommodation for the victim because she was stranded. The testimony of the victim that when she arrived in Ghana, the second accused person engaged her in prostitution and that she gave her the money she made out of the prostitution is difficult to believe based on the evidence adduced. The victim states that she was with the first accused person when she noticed that she was pregnant and she administered drugs to her to cause an abortion leading her to bleed. It took her alleged friend Khalifa whom she went to stay with at Sakumono Village to care for her. However, this person was not called to buttress her story. The medical report indicated that her complaint was vaginal discharge for three months before visiting the hospital where she was treated and discharged. The medical report also does not support her version of having been stabbed with a knife and three men having forcibly had sex with her and recorded same. The doctor could also confirm the alleged abortion and insertion of bottle into her vagina. The account of the accused persons as to how the victim came to live with the first accused person is more credible than the account of the victim. If the victim was trafficked as portrayed by the prosecution, when she came to Ghana, she had a phone and was free to contact either the Police or her family members back in Nigeria, but this twenty-year-old did not deem it fit to contact the Police. From the evidence, the victim already knew people in Ghana and left the house of the first accused person on three occasions to cohabit with one Khalifa at Sakumono Village which makes the account of the accused person that she stole the money of the first accused person and absconded more credible. On the totality of the evidence led by the prosecution and the defence put up by the first and the second accused persons, I hold that the prosecution failed to prove their case beyond reasonable doubt that the first and second accused persons agreed and acted together to transport the victim from Nigeria to Ghana through deceit to engage her in prostitution. The prosecution therefore failed to prove their case against the first and second accused persons beyond reasonable doubt. I therefore pronounce the first 16 and second accused persons not guilty on counts 1 and 2 and accordingly acquit and discharge them on the first and second counts. COUNT 3 Section 84 provides that a person who unlawfully assaults another person commits a misdemeanour. Section 85 of Act 29 provides for three types of assault. These are; i. assault and battery, ii. assault without actual battery and iii. Imprisonment. Section 86 (1) of Act 29 defines what constitutes assault and battery in the following terms; “A person makes an assault and battery on another person, if without the other person’s consent, and with the intention of causing harm, pain, or fear, or annoyance to the other person, or of exciting the other person to anger, that person forcibly touches the other person.” To succeed, the prosecution must establish the following essential elements; a. That the accused person forcibly touched another person; b. That the forcible touch was without the consent of that person; c. That the intention was to cause pain, fear, or annoyance to the other person or to excite the other person to anger. For purposes of assault and battery, Section 86 (2) (c) of Act 29 provides that “the slightest actual touch suffices for an assault and a battery, if the intention is an intention as required by the section.” The first prosecution witness testified that when she left the house of the first accused person to live with her friend at Sakumono, she went to Tema New Town once, and 17 the first accused person saw her and called the second accused person and her boyfriend. They locked her up in the room of the first accused person until midnight. They then took her to an unknown location at Kpone where the first and the second accused person beat her and ordered her to drink dirty water. The first accused person then brought out a knife from her bag, stabbed her in her hand and ordered her to lie down on the floor. She brought out a bottle and inserted it into her vagina and took a video of her, and continued beating her. They later sent her back to the first accused person’s room and brought three guys to sleep with her to enable them to capture it on video. She managed to escape and was hiding from the first and the second accused persons when she met a policewoman and after narrating her ordeal, she directed her to report the matter to the police. The first accused person testified that when the victim allegedly stole her Two Thousand Ghana Cedis, she informed the second accused person who told her that she would inform the third accused person. A month after that, she had information that the victim had been seen at a hotel where she and the second accused person rushed there to ascertain the truth. When they saw her, she interrogated her about the theft of her money and seized her phone. The second accused person intervened and took the victim home. The first accused person, in her further statement to the Police Exhibit “A1” stated that the victim informed her that it was the victim’s boyfriend who beat her, leaving bruises on her body. The second accused person in her caution statement denied assaulting the victim but the first accused person only slapped her once when she stole the first accused person’s money and phone. The second accused person further testified that when the victim left home to live with her boyfriend Khalifa at Sakumono and they finally met her and she took her home, she noticed marks and bruises on her body that she claimed her boyfriend assaulted her and when she confronted the said boyfriend, he stated that the victim stole his money and phone and ran away with it. In her defence, she stated that 18 a scuffle ensued between the victim and the first accused person when they finally met her, and she was interrogating her over the phone. From the evidence led by the prosecution and the defence put up by the accused person, when they confronted the victim about the missing money, they assaulted her since the second accused person admits that the first accused person only slapped her which constitutes assault in law. They also seized her phone and it took the intervention of the court for them to release the phone to her. The law does not permit anyone to put the law in their own hands to assault people who are alleged to have committed a crime. On the totality of the evidence led by the prosecution and the defence put up by the accused persons, I hold that the prosecution proved their case of assault against the accused persons beyond a reasonable doubt. I therefore pronounce the accused persons guilty of the charge of assault and convict them accordingly. SENTENCING It is trite learning that sentencing is at the discretion of the court however, the court is required to exercise the discretion judiciously. In the case of Abu and Others v. The Republic, [1980] GLR 294-302, the court held that in imposing a sentence, it seems that the court must consider all aggravating and mitigating circumstances. Also, in accordance with Section 313A of Act 30, the court ordered for a pregnancy test to be conducted on the convicts before sentencing and the results show that they are not pregnant. In sentencing the convicts in this case, the court considers the plea in mitigation of sentence put forth by Counsel for the accused person, the fact that they are first-time offenders. The court also considers that they are married with dependants and the remorse shown by the convicts. The court also considers that the phone has been released to the victim who has travelled back to Nigeria, the remorse shown by the convicts and the fact that assault is a misdemeanour. 19 Therefore, on count 3, each convict is sentenced to pay a fine of One Hundred (100) Penalty Units or, in default, 6 months imprisonment in hard labour. SGD. H/L JUSTICE AGNES OPOKU-BARNIEH (ADDITIONAL CIRCUIT COURT JUDGE) 20