Regional News of Monday, 5 July 2004

Source: GNA

Sunyani lawyer and teacher charged with assault

Sunyani July 5 GNA - A magistrate's court in Sunyani on Monday ordered a police investigator and a court clerk to once again serve summons to a Sunyani-based legal practitioner and a teacher to appear before it on Friday, July nine.

Mr. Charles Adjei Wilson, a circuit court judge at Awutu-Bereku in the Central Region, presiding as a magistrate judge gave the order when Nana Obiri-Boahen, the lawyer and Frank Kusi, the teacher, failed to appear before the court on Monday.

The two are to answer two charges of abetment of crime and assault. Mr. Wilson took the decision when Deputy Superintendent of Police Alex Yartey Tawiah, prosecutor, asked for a bench warrant for the arrest

of the suspects after the police investigator, Sergeant E.K. Addo said he delivered the summons to the suspects.

The judge said he was not convinced that the first summons got to the suspects and asked the police to send another summons and ensure that they were duly delivered so the suspects could appear before the court on Friday.

Narrating the facts of the case, DSP Tawiah said Ms. Azumah Nsor, complainant in the case, accompanied by a witness, Ms. Amina Awudu, went

to the house of Nana Obiri-Boahen to collect her 17 million cedis the lawyer had allegedly collected for his services as her counsel in a civil case at a high court in Sunyani.

Nana Obiri-Boahen asked the two to leave his house but Nsor refused insisting on the refund of the money.

DSP Tawiah said Nana Obiri-Boahen, who is an aspiring parliamentary candidate for Sunyani East became offended and ordered Kusi to beat the complainant, which he did mercilessly. Nsor reported the matter to the Sunyani district police, who issued a medical report to her to attend hospital and later arrested the two suspects for investigations.

DSP Tawiah said in his caution statement, Nana Obiri-Boahen denied having ordered Kusi to beat Nsor but admitted that she and the witness were in his house on that day and also ordered them to leave the house.

The prosecutor said Kusi in his caution statement admitted that he assaulted the complainant but explained that it was Nsor who first slapped him. He denied dragging her on the ground. 05 July 04