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A Magistrate has admonished Police investigators and prosecutors to be more professional when handling suspects.

Ms Ama Adomako Kwakye, the Kaneshie District Court Magistrate, noted that if the Police had acted appropriately, they would have saved the taxpayers’ money spent on conducting skin grafting surgery of Opambour Agya Badu Nkansah, the second murder suspect in Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh’s case.

The Magistrate noted that the state was going to bear the cost of Nkansah’s surgery.

The Magistrate gave the caution after the Ghana Police Service produced in court a comprehensive medical report of the second suspect in the murder of Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh.

The Kaneshie District Court had earlier on given Police investigators a 48-hour ultimatum to furnish it with a comprehensive medical report of the second suspect in the murder of Professor Emmanuel Yaw Benneh.

The Court further threatened to summon the Director-General of the Criminal Investigations Department of the Ghana Police Service to appear before it to explain issues should the Police failed to produce a comprehensive report on Nkansah or Nkansah in person.

Opambour Agya Badu Nkansah has been absent on a number of occasions during court sittings. The Police said the accused was still receiving treatment and that his medical report was not ready.

The Court however at a sitting today (Tuesday, December 29, 2020), stated that it had now received the comprehensive medical report on the accused authored by Dr Tetteh Karbo.

Prosecution led by Police Inspector Ebenezer Teye-Okuffo said the accused was operated on last week Monday at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital and he (Nkansah) was still on admission.

Police Inspector Teye-Okuffo, therefore, prayed the court to grant them a date by which the accused would have been discharged and brought to court.

When the Court asked the prosecution if preparations had been made for committal proceedings, the prosecutor said the case docket on Nkansah and one other as well as Ebenezer Quashie (all murder suspects) would be consolidated when Nkansah was discharged.

According to the prosecution, once the cases were consolidated, a duplicate docket would be prepared and sent to the Attorney General’s office for advice.

Prosecution said because Nkansah was on admission, he could not be brought to court.

Mr. Emmanuel Larbi Annan who represented Nkansah, prayed the Court to make orders so that he could be furnished a copy of the comprehensive medical report on his client.

Mr. Annan said he was surprised that the Police did not produce his client in court because the said surgery was conducted last week Monday.

Counsel said he was going to seek clarification on the said medical report from the hospital authorities, noting that the Police had defied the orders of the Court by failing to produce Nkansah in court.

“It is becoming too many times for the prosecution to come to court to tell us that Nkansah was unable to come to court," Defence counsel noted.

The court adjourned the matter to January 15, 2021, so that the various cases would be consolidated and the matter would also be forwarded to the Attorney General’s Department for advice.