I Have Never Killed Anyone

I have never killed anyone in my robbery expedition� is the confession made by a suspected armed robber in his caution statement to the police during an investigation. George Ayittey, alias George Johnson Ayittey�s statement was read at the Industrial and Labour Division (1) of the Accra High Court last Friday by Detective Inspector Seth Agyapong of the Greater Accra Regional CID, who was invited by the court to identify the handwriting of the police officer who investigated and wrote the accused�s statement. The investigator has since resigned from the Ghana Police Service. George Ayittey is standing trial with two others for robbing the Manager of Glory Oils, Mr. George Sackey at Osu, of GH�34,170 on June 16, 2008 at about 8:00 a.m. The accomplices are, Francis Bedzrah, alias �Effo Emma� alias �Red� and Mawuli alias �Shortie�. Items retrieved from the accused (Ayittey) in his hideout at the Akyaa Memorial Hotel, Achimota, on July 22, 2009, included three locally manufactured revolvers, an empty ammunition shell, a bread knife and three MTN Starter Packs. The Prosecutor, Chief State Attorney Mr. Anthony Rexford Wiredu, said the accused who were armed with a pistol supplied by Abdulai Gedo, went to the Osu Glory Oil in Accra on June 16, 2008, at about 8 a.m and robbed the manager, Mr. George Sackey, of GH�34,170. He said investigations further revealed that Ayittey was a leader of a five-member robbery gang, and when questioned by the police, they admitted taking part in other robberies at Achimota, East Legon and Haatso, all in the Greater Accra Region. When the Judge, Mr. Justice Charles Quist asked the three accused, Ayittey, Bedzrah and Mawuli to cross-examine Inspector Agyepong with regard to their statements he read to the court, they all denied ever giving any statements to the police when they were arrested. Francis Bedzrah (2nd accused) told the witness that he was a joker who had come to lie to the court because �You have no evidence. You only came to the court to read a paper without any proof�. Bedzrah: �Do you know that, this case has been adjourned for 91 times?� Inspector Agyepong: �No. I don�t know, you are telling me�. The third accused, Mawuli, also said that the police officer did not do �due diligence on him� before coming to testify in court. �My Lord, I am not an armed robber, I am a seaman and my passport is even with the police, you can go and check,� referring to the witness. George Ayittey (1st accused) said that he had never met the witness anywhere and did not also provide statement to Inspector Gyan, who investigated them during their arrest. The case was adjourned to February 26, for the accused to open their defence.