Caretaker jailed 10 years for manslaughter

Richmond Laweh, a caretaker, whose makeshift gate electrocuted a 14-year-old boy at Ampomah, near Ashiyie, has been jailed for 10 years by a High Court in Accra.

Laweh illegally connected electricity to an uncompleted building and connected a copper wire to his makeshift gate on the pathway on two plots of land where he is squatting.

Samuel Darko, the victim, who touched the gate to open it to use the said pathway, got electrocuted.

During a summary, a seven-member jury unanimously returned a guilty verdict on Laweh at the end of the trial.

Laweh, who is also a mason, charged with manslaughter, pleaded not guilty and indicated that he never connected the gate to electricity, although he contracted a professional electrician to do the illegal connection on the ground to his abode.

The prosecution led by Nana Ama Adinkrah, a Senior State Attorney, called four prosecution witnesses to make their case. Handing down the sentence, the court presided over by Justice Marie-Louise Simmons said she took consideration of the fact that Laweh was a first offender, and had been cooperative during the trial.

The court noted that the incident was wreckless, adding “All adults know that no one could play with electricity, and no one could determine the extent to which it could cause harm."

According to the court, though investigations were conducted, it was surprising that the illegal connection issue was not investigated.

It said if that was investigated the accused could have been charged with illegal connection in addition to the charge of manslaughter.

The court also noted that the issue could have informed the public about the dangers of illegal connections.

“No statement was taken from the next house where the illegal connection was done and the son called the electrician who did the illegal connection was not investigated. State institutions should be proactive instead of reactive.”

Defence counsel in her plea for mitigation told the court that her client did not intend to cause harm to anyone, including the deceased.

She therefore prayed to the court to tamper justice with mercy.

The prosecution’s case was that the accused was a caretaker of a parcel of land at Ampomah village, near Ashiyie in the Greater Accra Region.

Prosecution said the land had a footpath commonly used by the residents of that area.

However, the court heard that Laweh decided to block the said path by creating a makeshift gate with a wire mesh.

Additionally, prosecution said Laweh electrified the gate by passing a copper wire from his house to the makeshift gate through the ground.

Prosecution said on June 20, 2019, the deceased was on an errand accompanied by Ruth Tetteh and when they got to the said footpath which had been blocked with the makeshift gate, the deceased touched the gate to open it and got electrocuted.