An Accra High Court Thursday sentenced Nicolas Kini, a student, to life imprisonment for killing 10-year-old Ishmael Mensah Abdalla at Kasoa in 2021 for money ritual.
The Court has, however, released his accomplice, a minor, to a juvenile court for sentencing.
Nicloas Kini was jailed because he is an adult when he committed the offence with his 15-year-old accomplice.
This was after a seven-member jury returned a verdict of guilty on the accused persons aged 15 and 18 when they committed the offence.
They were held on charges of conspiracy and murder.
The 15-year-old pleaded guilty on the charge of conspiracy but denied the charge of murder.
In the case of the 18-year-old, he denied the two charges and pleaded alibi.
The notice of alibi was investigated, however, his grandfather whom he cited as witness had passed.
During the trial, the prosecution led by Abena Adoma Osei, Senior State Attorney, called seven witnesses.
The Court at the end of prosecution’s case ordered the two offenders to open their defence because a prema facie case had been made against them.
Handing down the sentence, the trial Judge, Justice Lydia Osei- Marfo, who is also a Court of Appeal Judge sitting with additional responsibility as a high Court judge, said “The parents of the present generation are asleep while their children who should be made to be sleeping by them are widely awake.
“The consequence is a silent pandemic eroding our society and condemning our future generations to a life of trauma.”
The trial Judge, who quoted Hilary Clinton, said: “When parents neglect their children, society pays the price.”
She noted that parental neglect was destroying the foundation of the country and must be checked.
The prosecution’s case is that the deceased, Ishmael Mensah Abdalla, aged 10, lived with his parents at Coca Cola, near Kasoa.
The 15-year-old convict is a school dropout while the 18 year old, a first year SHS student in a school near Kasoa.
The prosecution said on March 29, 2021, Kini consulted a ritualist for money after watching Lucky Television.
The ritualist demanded GHC5,000 and a human being.
The prosecution said Kini decided to use Ishmael Mensah Abdalla for the ritual on April 3, 2021.
It said Kini laid ambush in an uncompleted building while the 15-year-old accomplice lured Ishmael to the building and asked him to pick a video game in a sack.
As Ishmael bent to pick up the said video game from the sack, the 18-year-old struck him with a pickaxe handle.
The deceased reportedly turned to the 15-year-old and asked for forgiveness from the accused if he had wronged them.
The prosecution said Kini struck Ishmael again and he became unconscious.
The 15-year-old also used a cement block to hit Ishmael’s head.
Kini took a spade in the said uncompleted building, dug a shallow hole, and buried the victim, to be exhumed for the rituals the next day.
Luck, however, eluded them when they were spotted by a witness, the 15-year-old’s sister who informed their father.
The father of the 15-year-old confronted his son, and he confessed to the crime.
The 15-year-old insisted that he committed the act with Kini.
According to a postmortem conducted by Chief Superintendent Dr Osei Owusu Afriyie, Ishmael had blunt head injury, and several head injuries, among others.
In the 15-year-old’s defence before the Court, he admitted the offence and stressed that he committed the act with Kini.
The 15-year-old also said Kini gave him a handkerchief and chlorophyll after the murder.
The defence counsel for the 15-year-old, Mr Samuel Atuah, expressed condolences to the victim’s family, adding “it is our prayer that his soul will rest in peace”.
He said his client had confessed to the offence and “it is our prayer that when you return to your chambers, you return a verdict of not guilty”.
The defence counsel for Kini, Mr Lawrence Boampong, also expressed condolences to the deceased family.
He said his client had denied the charges throughout the trial and also denied taking part in the act.
He said Kini had also pleaded alibi, saying the prosecution had failed to prove that he took part in the murder of Ishmael.
Mr Harrison Mensah, an uncle of the deceased, said the family was satisfied with the verdict.
