A 21 year old Sports enthusiast, who attempted to enter the Accra Sports Stadium to watch the Accra Hearts Of Oak-Kumasi Asante Kotoko debacle with a gun concealed in his body has been convicted by an Accra Circuit Tribunal to pay ?1 million or in default six months in prison.
The convict could not watch the match because he was spotted by a vigilant police officer at the stadium gate who suspected him because of his behaviour and therefore conducted a search on his body and swiftly whisked away to the police cell. The convict Isaac Teye, a mechanical apprentice, at Ritz junction in Madina a suburb of Accra was convicted on his plea by the Chairman of the Tribunal Mrs.Anderson Yeboah yesterday. Teye, was charged with three counts of possessing fire arm without authority .
-possessing offensive weapons and two rounds of life 9-milimiters cartridge. He pleaded guilty to all the charges.
Chief Inspector Rebecca Nugbemadu, prosecuting told the court that the convict was apprehended on May 9 at the stadium gate 11 when he was about to purchase a ticket to watch the Kotoko versus Hearts match. Prosecution said a policeman singled him out from the queue due to his strange behaviour and therefore conducted a thorough body search on him and discovered a local made gun with two rounds of cartridges.
Prosecution said that the convict could not explain to the police why he had tucked a pistol on his body to the stadium. He was therefore taken to the Ministry police stations and later charge for the offences.
Prosecution said that the convict who hailed from Krobo Odomasi disclosed to the police during investigation that he bought the locally manufactured gun from one Ali in Sefwi- Wiaso in the Western Region. His counsel pleaded for mitigation from the court saying that the court should temper justice with mercy and reduce his sentence because the offence is misdemeanor.
The court delivering its sentence ordered that the local pistol which was brought to the court as an exhibit be destroyed. The country last week witnessed one of the horrific tragedy, in the nation's history in which over 126 Ghanaians who had gone to watch the Hearts- Kotoko match perished., when the police fired tears gas into the crowd creating panic and stampede.
