An Awutu Camp Prison inmate, Ernest Ackah denies stabbing his victim during a fight, which has led to his imprisonment.
Ackah was charged by a court at Nkawkaw in the Eastern Region for causing harm and was jailed for three years.
But the convict claims he did not stab his victim but subjected him to punches.
According to Ackah, he was the victim’s supervisor at work. He said the victim popularly known as Frenchman visited his office to demand an increase in wages on behalf of other workers.
Ackah recalls he told Frenchman to give him some time to think about the demand because aside from their wages he also feeds them.
Frenchman became impatient and started hurling insults against his supervisor.
Without any provocation from the convict, Frenchman nearly hit him but he ducked to dodge the heavy fist, Ackah narrated.
“I told him to stop what he was doing but he did not listen to me. Frenchman was drunk,” he told crimecheckghana.org.
To defend himself, Ackah said he retaliated. This further infuriated the victim who called his wee smoking colleagues for ‘back up’.
“When I heard he had mobilized his friends to attack me, I ran away from home,” Ackah said.
The supervisor said when he returned home thinking Frenchman was sober, he was taken by surprise as the victim launched another unprovoked attack on him.
“He came back to my house to apologize for his unruly behavior. I thought everything was fine but he began fighting me again,” Ackah recounted.
While they were fighting, Ackah said they entered a drinking bar, which had broken bottles packed in a sack at its entrance.
He indicated that Frenchman fell on the bottles causing him grave injury. Meanwhile, according to Ackah, he was busily punching Frenchman.
Ackah said he rushed Frenchman to the hospital immediately after he realized blood oozed out of his victim. “I was nearly mobbed by Frenchman’s friends when they heard about the incident if not for the intervention of an Assemblyman,” he said.
Ackah was reported to the police because he could not prove his innocence.
He said he was put before court and was sentenced to three years imprisonment.
During its periodic visits to the prisons, Crime Check Foundation (CCF) met him at the Awutu Camp Prison and interacted with him.
It formed part of CCF’s advocacy on crime prevention under its ‘Time With The Prisoner’ Series.
The series is televised to educate the general public on the consequences of crime.
