Court fines father and son GH¢2,400.00 for stealing, assault

A father and his son have been fined GH¢2,400 each by the Asokore-Mampong District Court for stealing a fowl, damaging a mobile phone, and assaulting the fowl’s owner in Buokrom Limex Quarry, near Asokore-Mampong in the Ashanti Region.

The convicts — Kingsley Kofi Kumi, 54, and his 20-year-old son, Kingsley Abeka, a trader — pleaded not guilty to the charges of stealing, causing unlawful damage, and assault, but were found guilty after a full trial.

The court, presided over by Hilder Esther Wryter, ordered that both men pay GH¢2,000 in compensation to the victim, Jennifer Sarpong. In default of the fines, each will serve two months in prison.

Prosecutor Chief Inspector David Opoku Kwabi told the court that the complainant, Jennifer Sarpong, operates a drinking spot and lives next door to the convicts.

On March 25, 2024, around 11 a.m., Kumi approached Sarpong, informing her that his son had slaughtered her fowl and she could come for it. The complainant, however, demanded payment of GH¢70 instead.

Hearing this, Abeka allegedly confronted her angrily, leading to a heated argument. When Sarpong attempted to record the confrontation on her Samsung Galaxy A22 phone, Kumi allegedly snatched the device, smashed it on the ground, and stepped on it, damaging it beyond repair.

The phone was valued at GH¢2,500.

The prosecutor added that Kumi then dragged the woman into a gutter, where he and his son physically assaulted her by pulling her braided hair and striking her repeatedly.

Bystanders intervened and rescued the complainant, who later lodged a report at the Buokrom Police Station, leading to the arrest of both men.

In their caution statements, the two denied all charges, claiming that the complainant’s phone had fallen into the gutter accidentally during the scuffle.

After reviewing the evidence, however, the court found them guilty on all counts and imposed the fines and compensation orders accordingly.