Police Confirm Death of Tema-Based Lawyer

The police have confirmed the death of a Tema-based lawyer, Robert Samuel Blay, who is believed to have been stabbed in the throat with a broken �Stone Lager Beer� bottle by an unidentified person in the early hours of yesterday. Lawyer Blay, 47, was reported to have driven his girlfriend�s car, a VW Passat with registration number GT 811 Z, from the scene of the attack to the Tema General Hospital where he checked in at the Emergency Centre. He was further reported to have failed in his attempt to speak about what happened to him before his death. The deceased lawyer, who worked with RS Blay and Associates, lived in Tema Community Three, and was well-known in the metropolis. According to Inspector Olivia Turkson, the Public Affairs Officer of the Tema Regional Police Command, the police got information that the lawyer had driven himself to the hospital alone in his car, in what was believed to be an effort to save his life. He sadly died just before a piece of paper and a pen were handed to him to write down what had happened, as he was having difficulty in speaking due to the deep cut in his throat. Inspector Turkson said Blay, according to medics at the hospital, arrived at the facility around 3:40 am and went straight to the emergency unit where he was attended to by medics on duty at the time of his arrival. �I understand that he tried to speak but any time he made an attempt he could not be heard. I suspect that it was so because of the deep cut he got on his throat right under his chin,� the police spokeswoman said. She stated that the deceased lawyer nodded anytime he was asked a question by the medics and also found it extremely difficult to speak anytime he tried to; which compelled him to signal to them to get him a piece of paper and a pen so he could write down what had happened to him. Lawyer Blay was reported to have died around 4.00am before medics could get him the paper and pen, which the police said, could have helped in identifying his killer(s). Inspector Turkson told DAILY GUIDE that a search in the deceased�s car revealed two take-away packs of chips and chicken, with the driver�s seat in a relaxed position and the broken �Stone Lager� bottle in the front seat of the car. �We suspect that he might have arrived at the scene where he was attacked to either wait for someone or do something else when the perpetrator attacked him with the broken �Lager Stone� bottle and fled the scene. The lawyer, I am sure, realizing that he was in danger, drove himself to the Tema General Hospital where medics tried to save his life until around 4.00am when he passed away after failed attempts to narrate to officials at the health facility what happened to him,� Inspector Turkson said. The police PRO stated that the deceased�s mobile phone could also not be traced at the hospital and in his car, compelling them (police) to speculate that it might have been taken away by the perpetrators to prevent them from being traced. She pointed out that the police had already started investigations into what might have led to the murder of the lawyer. Several lawyers on hearing about the news of his death, rushed to the Tema Regional Police Command. Most of them expressed shock at the incident, with some stating that they spent time together a couple of days ago. Other reports gathered by Daily Guide indicated that the deceased left Accra around 10.00pm and passed by a popularly joint in Dzorwulu till about mid-night when he set off for his Tema residence. A ticket collected at the Tema Motorway toll booth showed that he paid the toll around 1.00am. Sources who could not be named for now said he kept receiving a call on his mobile phone and was heard telling the caller that he would soon leave Accra for Tema. He was said to have bought two packs of the take-away food, which alongside his wallet and other belongings, were found in the vehicle. It was unclear if he was attacked by muggers for his cell phone while waiting in the car or if it was a meeting gone wrong. Robert Blay, who was a grandson of the late Sekondi-based R.S. Blay, left behind his mother and two sisters. He was the nephew of Mary Chinnery-Hesse, former Senior Special Advisor to President John Agyekum Kufuor and Hon Freddie Blay, former deputy Speaker of Parliament.