Accra, March 31, GNA-
Bright James, a painter, has been sentenced to 20 years imprisonment by an
Accra Circuit Court for defiling a six year old girl at Nungua.
James, 29, was found
guilty by the court presided over by Mrs Abena Oppong Adjin Doku.
When the court asked
James what he had to say before sentence was handed down, he told the court
that: “I have nothing to say. I am not ready for the judgment. I am not in a
good mood to say anything. My son is sick and I am disturbed.”
However, Mr George
Donkor, a lawyer, who acted as a friend of the Court, implored the Court to
tamper justice with mercy and give James the minimum sentence.
Mr Donkor also
apologised to the Court for James’ pronouncements, saying he was a first
offender and he should be dealt with leniently.
According to counsel,
the Court should also consider the number of days he had spent in custody when
the trial was going on.
The Counsel noted that
the Prisons were already choked and giving the accused person a higher sentence
would compound the problems at the prison.
Prosecuting, Detective
Inspector Kofi Atimbire said the victim’s mother was the complainant, while
James was a relative of the complainant’s husband. They resided in the same
house at Nungua.
On August 14, last
year, the complainant observed that the victim made a sound as if she was
having sex, any time she was lying on the bed.
The Prosecution said
the complainant interviewed the victim and she informed her mother that James
had had sex with her and demonstrated how the accused person had sex with her.
The complainant went
to the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit at Nungua and a medical form
was issued to her to send the victim to a medical facility for examination.
The accused was,
subsequently, nabbed by the Police.
GNA