Court jails trader five years for escaping from police custody

A Kumasi circuit court on Monday jailed a 25-year-old trader five years in hard labour for escaping from police custody. The Judge, Mr Ernest Yaw Obimpeh, also asked the police to be vigilant and smart in the performance of their duties. Ibrahim, who was detained on a stealing charge, told the court that he escaped because he had been kept in police custody for more than five days without being attended to and that the complainant through whom he was charged also stopped coming to the station. Briefing the court, Police Chief Inspector Owusu Manu, said on January 21, this year, Sulleymana was involved in a theft case and he was handed over to the Zongo Police in Kumasi by some civilians. While the police were taking the statements of the witnesses in the case, he escaped and was chased with the assistance of some civilians. In the course of the chasing, the police officer who was scared of being dismissed fired two warning shots which wounded one bystander and killed another instantly who was coming in to assist the police.