The Swedru Municipal Guard and three others standing trial at the Swedru District Court for allegedly assaulting a 17-year-old boy have agreed to pay an amount of GH¢10,000 as compensation to the victim.

The accused persons, Peter Danso, Isaac Ntsiful, Sampson Aikins and Francis Yorke have already paid GH¢3,000 to the victim to support his medical expenses as a result of the assault.

The accused persons have also promised to monitor the health status of the victim for the next one year and further pledged their preparedness to take care of other medical bills that may arise.

Decision

Counsel for the accused persons, Mr. Frederick Selby told the court on Wednesday that the accused persons are remorseful and have agreed to compensate the victim during the Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) sitting.

He noted that the compensation would be paid on or before June 6, 2019 towards an amicable settlement of the case.

The victim was however not in court to corroborate the submission by the counsel for the accused persons.

The prosecution led by Inspector Chare N. Salia, in his submission indicated that due to the absence of the victim in court, it would be difficult for the prosecution to ascertain the veracity of the decision at the ADR.

He prayed the court to adjourn the case to enable the prosecution to verify from the victim if the assertion by counsel was what was arrived at the ADR.

The court presided over by Mr Isaac Apeatu sided with the prosecution and adjourned the case to May 30, 2019 for hearing to continue.

At the last sitting, the case was referred to ADR following an appeal by the counsel for the accused persons and explained since the trial started, relatives of the accused had reached out to the victim to support him financially.