The committal proceedings which will enable Lucas Agboyie, the man who has confessed to killing a seven-year-old girl, after which he had sex with the corpse, to stand trial at the High Court could not come off as expected yesterday.
That was because the Attorney-General’s Department (A-G) requested for more time to enable it to get all the requisite documents necessary for the proceedings.
A senior State Attorney, Mrs Francisca Tete-Mensah, informed the Accra Central District Court that the A-G’s Department was yet to receive the original docket on the case and as such it could not start proceedings.
“In order for us to do the bill of indictment and summary of evidence, we need to have access to the original case docket,’’ she said.
Dispatch rider
Explaining why the A-G’s Department was yet to receive the original case docket, Mrs Tete-Mensah said a dispatch rider was supposed to deliver it to the department but he was unable to do so because of the absence of the investigator.
The investigator, she said, was sent on an official duty to the Northern Region and, therefore, could not retrieve the docket on time for onward delivery to the department.
“Due to circumstances beyond our control, we are obliged to ask for more time to enable the investigator to bring by hand the original case docket to the A-G’s Department,’’ she said.
The new development did not go down well with the presiding magistrate, Mr Ebenezer Kweku Ansah, who asked how hand delivery by the investigator could expedite the start of the committal proceedings.
The court adjourned the case to November 9, 2016 and stated that it would not tolerate any further delay from the A-G’s Department.
Agboyie has been charged with murder, while the A-G’s Department has indicated that he will face an additional count of defilement.
Delay
Following media reports, the A-G Department received widespread criticism for its delay in starting the committal proceedings.
The court has also consistently chastised state lawyers for stalling the committal proceedings that will lead to the commencement of the trial at the High Court.
According to the court, even though the incident took place on April 19, 2015 and Agboyie was arraigned on April 23, 2015, the docket was sent to the A-G’s Department for advice in June 2015
Facts
The facts of the case, as presented by the prosecution, are that on April 19, 2015, a seven-year-old girl was sent by her mother with a GH¢20 note to buy bread.
After waiting for a while without seeing their daughter, her parents became alarmed and sought the help of neighbours to search for her.
“Later, an informant alerted the search party to the fact that he had seen Agboyie pulling the girl into his metal container,” the prosecution said.
Agboyie could, however, not be found in the container upon a search.
“To their utmost surprise, they found the naked body of the girl lying supine on an old students’ mattress, with blood oozing from her mouth and nostrils,’’ the prosecutor said.
When Agboyie was later apprehended, “he confessed to killing the girl, after which he had sex with the body”.
Agboyie, after threats on his life, mentioned a man called Baba Ali as the one who had sent him to commit the act.
When the police confronted him on the identity of his accomplice, Agboyie retracted his earlier statement and said he had acted alone.
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