A Kumasi High Court has issued a restraining order to media houses running commentary on the evidence before the court in the case of a KNUST lecturer facing kidnapping charges over his missing wife.

It follows concerns raised by defence counsel over the publication and subsequent commentaries on evidence brought before the court by a section of the media.

The first accused, Dr Wilberforce Nkrumah Aggrey, is standing trial on charges of kidnapping and deceit of a public officer.

Since his arrest on October 6, 2021, he has been in custody after his wife, Rhodaline Amoah-Darko, a mother of two and a senior lands administrator, went missing on August 30, 2021.

The court was not pleased to hear portions of evidence adduced in court by a teaching assistant being reproduced in sections of the media and commentaries run on them.

The teaching assistant was the first witness to be called by state prosecutors in the case.

According to the court, it is contemptuous for the media to run commentary on the evidence presented by a witness admitted in court.

Dr Aggrey failed to appear in court on Wednesday, May 25, 2022.

But a second accused person, Yaw Boateng, was in court during the hearing.

The court adjourned the hearing to June 9, 2022.