Prison escapee fined GH¢1,200.00

A 29-year-old illegal miner, Ebenezer Asante, who escaped from the Tarkwa Local Prison, has been fined GH¢1,200.00 by the Tarkwa Circuit Court. In default, he will serve one year in prison.

Asante, a resident of New Atuabo in the Tarkwa Nsuaem Municipality, pleaded guilty to escaping from lawful custody and causing damage.

The court, presided over by Hathia Ama Manu, ordered him to sign a bond to be of good behavior for six months, failure of which he would serve an additional two years of jail term.

Mrs. Manu fined and bonded the convict based on his plea to serve as a deterrent to others.

Prosecuting, Superintendent of Police Juliana Essel-Dadzie told the court that personnel from the Ghana Prisons Service, Tarkwa, were the complainants. On May 10, 2024, Asante appeared before the Tarkwa District Court for stealing and was remanded in the Tarkwa Local Prison.

On Friday, May 17, at about 0700 hours, while the complainants were having their weekly devotion service at the prison canteen, Asante took advantage of the few officers on duty, jumped onto the shed that provided shade at the prison yard. Supt. Essel-Dadzie said he ran about 40 meters on the roof, damaged the iron sheets, and scaled over the wall to the backyard of the prison.

The complainants raised the alarm, drew the attention of other officers who chased Asante and recaptured him some meters from the prison and handed him over to the police.