Bar attendant charged for murder

A bar attendant of the Piccadilly Restaurant, who strangulated his co-tenant and set her ablaze, has been dragged before the Abeka District Court in Accra for murder.

The accused person Godwin Tetteh allegedly invited the deceased, Cindy Aidoo, 38, into his room at Alajo, a suburb of Accra and committed the act at about 2:30am on April 25, this year, according to the prosecutor, Chief Inspector H. Armah Hanson.

The plea of the accused was not taken by the court presided over by trial magistrate Ms. Victoria Guansah.

The prosecution earlier substituted its charges against the accused, whose presence at the court attracted many curious spectators, mostly the church members of Cindy.

Bail

James Owurah-Mensah, lawyer for the accused, urged the court to grant Godwin bail because the facts of the prosecution do not support the charge.

He stated that the facts of the police do not connect the accused person to the crime so committed, adding that per the 1992 Constitution, the accused was presumed to be innocent until proven otherwise or has pleaded guilty.

Mr Owurah-Mensah argued that certain cases are bailable while others were not, stressing that the charges are not properly laid before the court.

Godwin’s lawyer indicated that the hands of the judge were not tied in granting the bail, arguing that his client was a victim of circumstances.

No Bail

C/Insp. Hanson vehemently opposed the request for bail, denying the assertion that the facts do not support the charge.

He said Owurah-Mensah sought to mislead the court, insisting that the prosecution had done a thorough investigation into the case.

The prosecutor said the facts connect Godwin to the case because the accused called the deceased into his room, strangulated her and set her ablaze.

Ms Guansah ruled in favour of the prosecution, indicating that the court does not have jurisdiction to grant bail to the accused person.

The court held that the lawyer could file his application for bail before a court of competent jurisdiction.

Hearing continues on June 29.

The facts of the case are that the deceased is a second hand cloths dealer, who lives with the accused in the same house at Alajo.

On the said date at about 12:30am Godwin invited Cindy into his room for a discussion.

When she entered, Godwin narrated to her that he gave some items to one George Abdullai Nelson, a witness in the case for safe keeping but later when he asked for them, he (George) told the accused that his girlfriend had stolen the items and needed advice from Cindy.

Attack

Cindy advised Godwin to report the issue to some elders for arbitration and decided to leave the room.

As soon as Cindy stood up, Godwin grabbed her from behind, squeezed her neck and set the room on fire in order to cover up her diabolic plan.

When Godwin realized the room was in flames, he rushed outside and shouted for help.

George heard the shouts and rushed to find out what had happened, but Godwin did not tell him anything.

George picked a bucket of water to quench it and in the process heard Cindy crying for help on the carpet.

Cindy was rescued and rushed to the Maamobi Government Hospital through the assistance of Asirifi Bilson, her father.

The victim, who sustained severe burns, was later transferred to the 37 Military Hospital where she died on admission on May 9, 2017.

A duplicate copy of the case had been forwarded to the Attorney-General’s Department for advice.