Contempt case: Bench warrant issued for arrest of CID boss, Legal & Prosecutions D-G rescinded

A bench warrant issued for the arrest of the Director General of the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) and the Legal and Prosecution Unit of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) has been rescinded by an Accra High Court.

The court rescinded the arrest warrant after Superintendent of Police Sylvester Asare, Head of Legal and Prosecution Unit of the Ghana Police Service (GPS) rendered an unqualified  apology to the court for failing to appear before it.

Superintendent Asare told the court they were made aware of the court’s order after it had issued the warrant.

According to him, it was not their intention to disobey the orders of the court.

Additionally , the head of Legal and Prosecution Unit told the court that the vehicle in question had been released.

He told the court as soon as the Unit heard about the court’s warrant in the media, the Service got in touch with counsel for the applicant and the matter was resolved.

On April 15, 2024, the court presided over by Justice Lydia Osei Marfo ordered the arrest of the two officers of the Ghana Police Service for failing to appear before it.

Mr Abraham Arthur, counsel for the applicant, admitted that the vehicle had been released  to the applicant and lauded the trial judge.

The trial Judge Justice Lydia Osei- Marfo said “It is hoped that this occurrence would not  happen again,” and rescinded the bench warrant.

According to the trial judge the respondents had purged themselves of the “contemptuous act” and forgave them, saying the application was struck out as settled.

It, however, said the court  would be compelled to call the Police to order  if they did not uphold the rule of law, adding that no one was above the law.

It would be recalled that Sureword Global Outreach, a subsidiary company, in affidavit, said on November 14, 2023, one Noagbe Julius ( a customer) approached Sure Rental to rent one of its vehicles  for a day.

The applicant said Sure Rental agreed to rent a Toyota Fortuner with registration number GN 2925- 20 and proceeded to fill the rental form for the customer.

According to the applicant, on November 14, 2023, a few hours after handing  over the keys to Noagbe Julius, a police officer reported to Sure Rental that Noagbe Julius had allegedly used the applicant’s vehicle he rented to convey substances suspected to be illicit drugs and had  been apprehended and detained at the CID headquarters.

According to the applicant, the CID after Noagbe’s arrest, impounded  the applicant’s vehicle without any justification.

The applicant held that Sure Rental, being a rental company, did not control the activities of customers who had its rented vehicles and, therefore, could not be held liable  for acts committed by such clients.

The applicant held that the continuous detention of the vehicle was without basis and same was unlawful because the vehicle had not committed any crime and same was not needed as evidence in court.

The applicant, therefore, prayed to the court to order the release of the vehicle for effective running of business.