By Emelia Nkrumah
Accra, June 14, GNA – A security guard who stabbed a businesswoman twice in the abdomen with a knife and fork has been sentenced to 15 years imprisonment by an Accra Circuit Court.
Alhassan Abdul Rahuf, who was charged with unlawful entry and causing harm, pleaded not guilty.
However, at the end of the trial, he was found guilty by the court presided over by Mr Isaac Addo.
The Court, therefore, sentenced the accused person to 15 years imprisonment in hard labour for unlawful entry and seven years imprisonment in hard labour for causing harm.
“Sentences will run concurrently,” the court said.
During the trial, the prosecution called three witnesses, while the accused person on the other hand testified to himself and he did not call any witnesses.
Sentencing Rahuf, the Court said it considered the fact that he was a first-time offender, a young man and had also been in lawful custody for some period.
It said, “However, looking at the nature of the offences, the premeditated way of carrying them out, the injury caused to the victim and the fact that the accused person was a security guard in charge of protecting lives and property at a residential area and he should have known better.”
It said, “The accused person deserves a deterrent sentence.”
The facts as presented by Chief Inspector Jonas Laweh were that the complainant Madam Rita Owusu is the Facility Manager of Arabella residence located at Cantonments.
The prosecution said the victim Belinda Akorli is a businesswoman and resided at Arabella residence while the accused person, now convict, was a security guard providing security for the Arabella residence.
It said on April 28, 2023, at about 0710 hours (about 4 weeks) the convict who was on guard duty at the above-mentioned residence sought permission from his supervisor to use the washroom and failed to return.
The prosecution said the convict, after using the washroom, went to the apartment of the victim and entered the room through the children’s playroom window.
It said the convict changed himself into the victim’s husband’s attire, left his uniform and boots in a polythene bag in the victim’s children’s playroom and hid himself.
The prosecution said on April 29, 2023, at about 1330hrs the same day, the victim was dressing up after taking her bath when the convict suddenly appeared naked in her bedroom.
It said the victim shouted for help, but the convict rushed to the kitchen, picked up a knife and a fork, and stabbed the victim twice in the abdomen with the fork.
The prosecution said the victim started bleeding and rushed out of the room naked.
It said the convict also rushed out and cut one of the electric fence wires and scaled the wall.
The prosecution said the victim was rushed to the police hospital for treatment by a neighbour and she was admitted.
It said the convict was later arrested at the nearby construction site after intelligence was gathered.
The prosecution said the convict admitted the offence in his cautioned statement and led police to retrieve his security uniform kept in the victim’s room.
GNA