The 15-year-old Juvenile who was convicted together with 18-year-old Nicholas Kini has asked the family of his friend Ishmael Mensah Abdella whom he had killed for a money ritual at Kasoa for forgiveness.
In his words to the family of the deceased and the Court prior to being sentenced to a 12-month imprisonment at the Senior Correctional Centre, the convict said “It was not my intention to kill my dear friend.”
“I pray that Ishmael’s (deceased) father forgives me as I have prayed with Ishmael for a very long time. I never planned to kill him. It was the devil,” he begged the deceased family’s forgiveness.
“I plead with the court to forgive me. It was not my intention to kill my dear friend and to also end my life this way. I pray the court would forgive all my sins and give me a second chance,” the convict said on Tuesday, January 21, 2025, while in tears.
The Court recounted that the convict was arrested in April 2021 at the time he was 15 years old and he will be 19 this year.
The Court said the convict has been on remand for three years and two months.
According to the court, it discovered that the minor convict had been at the Ministry Police Station for the past three years which is against the Juvenile Justice Act.
The Court said per the law, technically the juvenile had already served his sentence which is three years.
However, was quick to assert that because of the gravity of the offense and the juvenile saying he dropped out of school at Primary six, and his intention was to learn a technical vocation, the court will therefore sentence him to a senior correctional center for 12 months in order to learn what he had always dreamed to learn.
On October 24, 2024, the juvenile who is now 18 years and Nicholas Kiki now 21 were unanimously found guilty by a jury panel of seven for two charges – conspiracy and murder.
While Nicholas Kini was sentenced to life in prison because he is an adult, the juvenile was remitted to the Juvenile Court for sentencing due to his age.
“By necessary implication, the High Court is the court with exclusive jurisdiction to try a capital offense preferred against a juvenile and shall hear it summarily,” the Court said while pointing to Article 140 of the 1992 Constitution.
“For this reason, this court has no jurisdiction to pronounce a sentence on the 1st accused person (convict).
“I hereby remit him to the juvenile court within the jurisdiction of this court to sentence him. He should remain in the custody of the police until he is dealt with in accordance to the law at the juvenile court.
“The 1st accused person (15-year-old) should be sent to the juvenile court latest by 12th November 2024 to be dealt in accordance with law,” Justice Osei Marfo directed.
