A 34-year-old unemployed man has been sentenced to five years in prison for inflicting multiple cutlass wounds on a scrap dealer’s left arm in La, Accra. 

Jeremiah Afotey Otu was found guilty of causing harm by an Accra Circuit Court after the trial, despite having initially pleaded not guilty. 

The court, presided over by Mrs. Christina Cann, ordered Otu to pay GHC10,000 in compensation to the victim. 

The prosecution, led by Chief Inspector Stanley Fiotso, informed the court that the complainant and victim is a scrap dealer in Logotwenshie, a neighbourhood in La, Accra. 

Chief Inspector Fiotso noted that Otu resides in La Wireless. 

On December 14, 2023, around 2130 hours, Otu, along with a group of about 20 individuals, apprehended one Enoch, accusing him of stealing a 32-inch Nasco television set belonging to a woman. 

When Enoch was asked to identify the scrap dealer to whom he sold the TV, he was unable to do so, which angered the group. 

The prosecution stated that the group, including Otu and armed with cutlasses and other weapons, seized a motorcycle belonging to one of the scrap dealers.  

They claimed the motorcycle would be returned only after the television set was recovered. 

The complainant, along with other scrap dealers, attempted to retrieve the motorcycle, leading to a confrontation between the parties.  

A police officer present at the scene advised them to go to the police station to resolve the matter. 

The prosecution said on reaching La Apapa, Otu slashed the complainant’s two arms with a sharp cutlass he was wielding and fled.  

The prosecution said on December 24, 2023, Otu was arrested in his hideout on Osu beach.