Confirmed: Oreilly SHS student accused of murder is 19 – Police tell court

Police prosecutors have confirmed to the District Court at La that the final year student of Oreilly Senior High School, Godwin Mawuli, accused of killing Edward Borketey Sackey, is over 19 years old, as he was born on July 10, 2005.

The confirmation of the age of the accused now gives the District Court the authority to handle the matter until the duplicate case docket is forwarded to the Attorney General’s Office and advice is received for committal proceedings.

On Thursday, September 19, 2024, the Magistrate, Her Worship Adwoa Benaso Asumadu-Sakyi, ordered police prosecutors to furnish the court with a hospital report indicating the age of the accused.

On Friday, September 20, 2024, the police prosecutor, Chief Inspector Paul Osei Adjei, who was holding brief for the substantive prosecutor, said that apart from the police medical report confirming his age, the date of birth on the accused’s BECE certificate, National Health Insurance card, and information on his House-2 forms at SHS, signed by his father, all confirmed that he was born on July 10, 2005.

He prayed for the court to remand the accused person into police custody to enable them to conclude their investigations.

He also assured that, hopefully by next week, the duplicate case docket would have been forwarded to the office of the Attorney General for advice.

The Magistrate warned that the court does not want to hear at the next court date that the police are still working on the duplicate case docket.

The court said the police ought to keep in mind the family of the deceased and that it would not entertain any delays in the case.

Her Worship Asumadu-Sakyi also took time to explain the court processes to the family and urged them to be patient.

Edward Borketey Sackey was allegedly murdered by a classmate after a disagreement over who had wealthier parents.

EIB Network’s Legal Affairs Correspondent, Murtala Inusah, reports that the case has been adjourned to October 7, 2024, for an update on the investigations.

The plea of the accused, whose age has now been confirmed, has not been taken.

The family of the deceased thronged the court in large numbers.

The final-year student at O'Reilly Senior High School, who allegedly fatally stabbed a classmate, has been provisionally charged with murder.