An Adentan Circuit Court has fined a 46-year-old pastor GHC6,000 for unlawfully discharging his licensed pump action shotgun without justification.

Sarfo told the court that he had not intended to fire his gun.

The court presided over by Mrs Sedinam Awo Balokah, ruled that if he did not pay the fine, he would be imprisoned for 12 months.

Sarfo was also ordered to sign a bond to be of good behaviour for 24 months or spend two years in prison.

The court also ruled that Sarfo’s gun be held by the Adentan Police Command for 12 months and be returned to him on September 8, 2024.

The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Maxwell Lanyo, said the complainant is a banker, and Sarfo is a preacher and a landlord who owns a building at Agbogba in Accra, where he and the complainant lived with other tenants.

Sarfo, according to Chief Inspector Lanyo, rented an apartment to the complainant for a year about eight months ago.

After paying his rent, the complainant made several efforts to get a copy of the tenancy agreement.

The prosecution told the court that the more the complainant tried to demand and collect the tenancy agreement, the more Sarfo threatened him with eviction.

On May 4, 2023, at about 2000 hours, the complainant went to Agbogba Police Station and reported that Sarfo had called him on the phone to threatened that “he should not come home that day, and if he does go home, that will be his final day on earth.”

The prosecution said the Police issued to the complainant “an extract of occurrence to be sent to Adenta Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit for investigations".

It said during investigations the complainant informed the Police that Sarfo was in the habit of threatening his tenants with a gun if he had misunderstanding with them.

“He (Sarfo) goes to the extent of firing gunshots under the pretext of giving warnings shots to scare them.”

The prosecution said on May 17, this year at about 2000 hours, the police went to Sarfo’s house and knocked at his door multiple times but received no response.

According to the prosecutor, the police took the opportunity to interview some of his tenants to ascertain the truth of the complainant’s claims of how Sarfo had been firing gunshots when he had a misunderstanding with any of them.

The prosecution said tenants confirmed the allegation and were willing to testify in the matter.

Sarfo reported at the police at Adentan DOVVSU on May 18, 2023, at 1000 hours, with his pump action gun with serial number TO72894 filled with BB cartridges.

The court heard that Sarfo was cautioned, and his gun was taken by the Police for further investigations.

The prosecution said Sarfo denied threatening to kill the complainant in his caution statement but admitted that he fired shots with his gun earlier after a misunderstanding with the complainant about his tenancy agreement.

The prosecutor told the court that while investigations were underway, the complainant went to the Police Station with a “written threat message pasted on his door by Sarfo".

In his caution statement, the accused admitted posting it there.