Ghanaian Musician, Deeba To Be Extradited To The UK

The Osu District Magistrate Court on Tuesday began the extradition of Deeba Acheampong, a Ghanaian musician who is accused of defiling and assaulting his two step daughters in the United Kingdom.

This was after the state had entered a nolle proseque (a process to discontinue a matter) at an Accra Circuit Court where he was previously remanded lawfully into custody.

At the Osu District Magistrate Court, Deeba aka Richard Nimo had the facts and charges read out for him but the court did not take his plea.

Deeba whose lawyer did not turn up, pleaded to know why he was brought before the Magistrate Court instead of the Circuit Court. According to him, he was only informed by the Police that he would be put before the Osu Court.

He is currently facing five counts of defilement and assault under Ghana’s laws and raping a female under the age of 13 and assaulting a minor under the United Kingdom’s laws.

Mrs Yvonne Atakora Obuobisa, Principal State Attorney told the court that Deeba was wanted in the United Kingdom under the two offences, adding that under current dispensation the UK can apply to Ghana to extradite him to stand trial.

According to Mrs Obuobisa, the offences allegedly committed by the accused were not political ones, adding Ghana under international treaty would have to send him to the UK to stand trial.

She mentioned that the state would provide the court with the needed video interview and transcripts during the extradition process.

The court presided over by Mr Aboagye Tandoh adjourning the matter to Tuesday February 7, urged Deeba to do well to get his lawyer at the next sitting.

“Here we don’t wait for lawyers unless there is a compelling reason to do so. Be prepared to conduct your case if the lawyer does not turn up,” the court said.

The facts of the case were that in December 2012, INTERPOL Accra received a request of arrest warrant from its counterpart in London to the effect that between 2004 and 2008, while living in the UK, the accused person had a relationship with a woman who already had two daughters, aged eight and six, from her previous relationship.

Subsequently, Deeba and the woman had two children from their union. Initially, they lived separately, but when the woman went on night shift, Deeba took care of the home and cared for the children. That, the prosecutor said, continued until September 2008 when Deeba returned to Ghana to pursue his musical career.

But two weeks after his departure from the UK, Deeba’s stepdaughter told her mother that her stepfather had sexual intercourse with her on several occasions whenever her mother went to work in the night.

According to the prosecutor, on those occasions, Deeba invited the little girl into the bedroom to watch pornographic films with him, after which he would lay her on the bed, kiss her mouth, apply baby oil on his penis and have sex with her.

The little girl also alleged that the accused person sometimes had anal sex with her and that after each act he put a sanitary towel in her panties to avoid evidence of bloodstains and also hid his stained bedsheet.

She further alleged that Deeba threatened to beat her if she disclosed the acts to anyone. Deeba, the prosecutor said, assaulted the little girl’s sister between June 1 and 4, 2008 when she attempted to satisfy her inquisitiveness about what was happening to her sister and that led to a cut on the back of the girl’s head.

A medical examination on the little girl by a forensic physician, Dr. Ainsley Kassie, revealed extensive damage to her hymen as a result of vaginal penetration.

Deeba was said to have denied the offence when he was confronted by his fiancée, who later lodged a complaint with the police, following which a warrant was issued by the Northampton-shire Magistrate Court for the arrest of the accused person.

Deeba was arrested at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel in Accra during an undercover operation.

He has, however, denied the offence in his caution statement to the police.