A 27-year-old scrap dealer and herbal medicine peddler, Abdulai Sanusi, has been sentenced to three years imprisonment in hard labour by the Tema Circuit Court ‘B’ for stabbing a security guard with a pair of scissors.
The court, presided over by Mrs Klorkor Okai-Mills, sentenced Sanusi, a Nigerian, after pleading guilty to the charge of causing harm to the victim, Vincent Akpotaka on his left rib and back.
During the court proceeding, the prosecutor, Inspector Jacob Kuubal, said the victim was a security guard at Sentuo Oil Refinery in the Tema Industrial Area, and in January 2024, he bought some of Sanusi’s medicine valued at GHC 50.00 on credit, promising to pay later.
He said on February 12, 2024, at about 6:30 pm, the convict went to the victim at his abode on the premises of his workplace and demanded for his money.
However, the complainant explained to him that he did not have cash on him as his money was on his mobile money wallet.
He said the victim claimed it would be difficult to withdraw cash because the mobile money agents in the area had already closed.
The victim therefore instructed the convict to come back in the morning for his money, but it did not go down well with him, leading to a heated exchange between the two.
It developed into a scuffle during which Sanusi removed the scissors he had concealed and stabbed the complainant under his left rib and his back, resulting in deep-cut wounds.
The prosecutor added that Sanusi took to his heels after he saw the victim bleeding profusely from the deep-cut wounds he inflicted on him, but he was pursued by witnesses, arrested and handed over to the Lube Oil Police Station, where he was cautioned.
He said a police medical report was issued to the complainant to attend any government hospital for treatment.
According to the prosecution, the doctor who attended to the victim, Dr Iddi Sumaili, explained that the omentum tissue under the skin of the stomach of the complainant was out and visible in the wound, and needed a surgery to check if any of his internal organs were damaged.
During the surgery it was detected that the victim sustained internal bleeding between the abdominal and pelvic cavities (hemoperitoneum), while his stomach lining was perforated.
The prosecution added that the victim, who was detained at the social welfare department of the hospital for his inability to pay his medical bills, had since been discharged after some benevolent people contributed and paid the bill.